Responding to diversity: the Primary Care Group in the NHS.

The paper attempts to examine the development of Primary Care Groups in the NHS, utilising a conceptual framework taken from relationship marketing. In particular, it looks at a framework representing the complex relationships between the Primary Care Group and a diverse range of internal and external stakeholders and the implications of these relationships. It reports the preliminary findings of an ongoing, in-depth case study of two Primary Care Groups; with data collected from in-depth interviews with a small number of key stakeholders. The results, so far, suggest the importance of developing and maintaining longer-term relationships with a range of partners, both internal and external. It recommends that Primary Care Groups should develop strategies to work closely with these stakeholders, as an essential underpinning to developing continuous improvement in performance, quality and "user" retention.