Good medicine? A case study of business process re-engineering in a hospital

Business pocess re-engineering (BPR) is one of the latest approaches to improving organisational performance. It evolved in the US private sector, and has been introduced to Britain and the British public sector, offering radical improvement from radical redesign. This article considers the nature of BPR (and there is more than one variety) and the suitability of its application to the public sector in general and to hospitals in particular. The authors then evaluate the experience and impact of BPR in a London hospital trust. The article concludes by highlighting factors that help to explain the particular example of BPR and draws out some implications for its wider use in the public sector.