Marks & Spencer and the NHS are totally different organisations doing quite different things. At first glance there appears to be no crossover and no scope for any cross fertilisation of ideas. Peter Garnett thinks otherwise. In this article he teases out the similarities and identifies common concepts, including most importantly, leadership.

The recent announcement that the NHS is to benefit from the private sector experience of Stuart Rose has been seen by some critics as a mixed blessing. It seems that the notion of any experience other than that inbred in the NHS is considered as an irrelevance by some. For example, Christina McAnea, UNISON Head of Health, said: “The truth is that the NHS is fundamentally different from the retail sector where customers can shop, when and where they like” and “…Instead of focusing on the cult of the individual, Jeremy Hunt would be better turning his attention to engaging with staff, patients and their families on how to improve NHS services.”

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