Improving health service quality from within: the case of United Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

Illustrates how the implementation of the internal customer concept has assisted United Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust to establish a culture for quality. Explains the conceptual framework on which the notion of the internal customer is derived. Describes how, from 1992 to date, the Trust's quality management approach was designed to apply these management principles in a large teaching hospital setting. Outlines how this quality management approach has been successful in enabling departmental managers to recognize, develop and improve internal customer/supplier relationships. Concludes by explaining that business process re-engineering is now being applied as a prime quality tool to help deliver a major culture change throughout the organization.