30 August 2008

What's in a name?

Hospitals used to keep the same name for centuries. There was something reassuring about that. But change is now the order of the day. Anybody who doesn't like change is bad bad bad. That anyway is the mantra from the management gurus who are supposed to know about these things.

There is, though, some fishiness to some of the current name changes. It could be fashion. If so, like many fashion items, it is proving expensive. Why, if it costs thousands, would two PCTs want to change the letters PCT to NHS? Why do you think that could be? Dr Grumble thinks he may know.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Might it be because they don't Care and you can't Trust them?

Dr Grumble said...

That's much funnier than Dr G's much more serious explanation.

It's good to be able to have a laugh even when what is happening is actually rather serious.

Dr Grumble said...

And Primary Care Trusts also have rather a lot to do with secondary care so the name is rather a nonsense. Perhaps somebody has realised this but Dr G thinks the whole thing is much more sinister and not just the usual wasteful renaming exercise.

There's over 14 MB of guidance on NHS branding for PCTs so it is not surprising if it is costing a bit.