Tag Archive for: 2024

Blue lozenge 25: Strategic Healthcare Communication

Summary

Blue Lozenge marks the 25th anniversary of the national rollout of the NHS Blue Lozenge brand, drawing on research showing that by 2015 the NHS logo had achieved 98% public recognition in England. The piece argues that strategic communication in healthcare is a cost-saving investment rather than a cost pressure, citing the consolidation of over 600 NHS identities into a single corporate brand as a measurable example. Evidence is presented across four communication domains: internal communication and workforce retention, operational communication and reduced hospital mortality rates, patient feedback and quality improvement, and community engagement in COVID-19 vaccine uptake. The article positions effective communication as directly enabling more time for frontline care.

 

The NHS brand is a masterclass in demonstrating the power and value of professional, strategic communication in healthcare. 25 years ago this month the national roll out of the NHS blue lozenge began. Healthcare communication professionals across the land were equipped with a new set of national guidance explaining how they should use the new corporate identity. 

The NHS blue lozenge very quickly became one of the most recognisable logos, not only in England, but across the world. A study by NHS England found that, by 2015, the NHS logo had, at 98%, almost universal recognition[1]. People felt that it had existed “forever”. The study found that, “for the general public, the NHS is broadly understood as a single entity with an overarching ethos: the NHS logo is a signifier of consistent, high-quality healthcare, and it is also – and independently – a signifier of the public purse.” 

The NHS brand has powerfully shaped the English public’s perception of its national healthcare service. This wasn’t always the case. When the NHS was created at the end of the 1940s, a hospital was just your local hospital; the larger structure behind it was less tangible. The People’s History of the NHS explains [2]: 

“Even the NHS acronym had not yet become widespread. In many instances, people were told about the ‘new health service’, not even the ‘National Health Service’. Labelling was far less consistent and less important than it was to become.” 

Effective communication helps to make the complex simple. This was well understood when the NHS brand was introduced, it brought together over 600 variations into one compelling corporate identity, an identity that resonated with every single member of the public. The values of that identity were later embodied into the NHS Constitution. And the recent report, the British Social Attitudes Survey, found that the public commitment to the underlying principles of the NHS are as strong as ever [3]. 

The NHS brand evokes purpose and trust, and in a world where public trust in the NHS is declining and there are huge challenges with the health and care workforce – proactively managing communication has never been more important. The reputation of the NHS is based on three factors, performance, behaviour and communication. This is known as the reputation equation: 

The NHS brand provides a single identifier for healthcare – the double-edged sword of an effective brand is that public perception is often polarised. Therefore, an individual’s experience of performance, behaviour and communication at a local NHS service means that they conclude that the whole of that service is either evangelically good or wholly inadequate. Neither of which are likely to be true.

Effectively managing communication in healthcare leads to more time to care

What is true is that there are huge benefits in proactively managing your brand and communication. In healthcare we believe that the ultimate benefit is that it provides more time to care. Rolling out one effective brand saved millions of hours of local time and budget, where previously hundreds of variations existed. Time and money that could be spent elsewhere. One, strategic, powerful programme of communication still helps a workforce of over 1.4 million people and a population of around 56 million understand the goals, strategic approach and direction of our health service. 

Branding isn’t the only place where the power and value of communication can be seen in healthcare. 

  • For internal communication there is a positive correlation between better healthcare, employee communication and engagement and work-related commitment; a negative correlation with turnover intentions [4]. 
  • For operational communication there is a positive correlation between higher levels of workforce engagement and reduced mortality rates in hospital [5].
  • For patient communication there is a positive link between the use of online patient feedback and better-informed quality improvement projects [6].
  • For behaviour change communication effective community engagement underpinned the success of the Covid-19 vaccine campaign in improving uptake in marginalised groups. 

This is why we and hundreds of communication professionals in health and care turn up to work each day – not to pretty a poster or draft a powerpoint. Let’s be clear that investment in well thought through communication is never a cost pressure it is always a cost saving – and if we need a reminder let’s just look at the power of the NHS brand!  

As part of our celebration of 25 years of the national rollout of the NHS blue lozenge we’ve asked some well-known experts their views on the NHS brand and why think it’s endured and what the future will hold. Take a look. 

References

[1]  NHS England, 2016. https://www.england.nhs.uk/nhsidentity/wp-content/uploads/sites/38/2016/08/NHS-Identity-Research-phase-one-and-two.pdf 

[2] https://peopleshistorynhs.org/encyclopaedia/branding/

[3] Nuffield Trust, British Social Attitudes Survey March 2024

[4] University of Greenwich Greenwich Academic Literature Archive – Evaluating the evidence on employee engagement and its potential benefits to NHS staff: A narrative synthesis of the literature

[5] Hospital Workforce Engagement and Inpatient Mortality Rate: Findings from the English National Health Service Staff Surveys | Journal of General Internal Medicine (springer.com)

[6] University of Oxford Using online patient feedback to improve NHS services: The INQUIRE multimethod study – ORA – Oxford University Research Archive

Blue lozenge 25: Strategic Importance of Brand

Summary

Blue Lozenge examines the strategic rationale behind the 1999 national rollout of the NHS brand, which unified over 600 visual identities into a single corporate identity under the Labour government’s Primary Care Group model. The piece argues that the investment in branding was a cost-saving measure rather than a cost pressure, as core design elements already existed and trusts were asked to update assets incrementally. It traces the pre-1999 absence of a consistent visual identity for publicly funded healthcare, including a breach of the Geneva Convention when the Red Cross emblem was used to represent the NHS in the 1980s. The article positions the NHS brand as a strategic communications asset serving a workforce of 1.4 million and a population of approximately 56 million, despite declining public satisfaction recorded in the British Social Attitudes Survey.

 

We’re celebrating 25 years since the national roll-out of the NHS brand. Following an intelligent rebranding exercise in 1999 the NHS ‘blue lozenge’ has been synonymous with one NHS and a symbol of national pride.  

Branding is a vital part of any business or organisation. It goes way beyond the visual elements of a logo and typography and begins to tell a story in the minds of the public about the values and purpose of the organisation it represents. Investing in your brand is an investment in perception and trust. It is a mechanism to influence how your audience perceives your service or business – creating an emotional connection that resonates, builds trust, credibility and a sense of belonging in the hearts of the public and the workforce. 

This was well understood by the Labour government in 1999 when they introduced the Primary Care Group model in the NHS, and mandated the use of a unified corporate identity across the NHS. The single identity brought together 600 variations into one compelling corporate identity. 

Prior to this the government had no visual shorthand to refer to the publicly funded health service. They were not able to easily distinguish between publicly funded provision, the private or the charity sector.  

This caused a problem in the 1980s when the opposition Labour party used the Red Cross identity to represent the NHS, breaching the Geneva Convention. After 1999, governments had an incredibly easy way of referring to the health service. 

How taxpayer’s money should be used in the NHS is rightly scrutinised, however, at the time of the national rollout of the branding exercise the investment was mistakenly criticised. Like any well considered communication exercise, the investment was a cost saving not a cost pressure. The core design elements of the NHS blue lozenge already existed and as part of the national rollout these were formalised. By using one logo with clear guidelines there was not a requirement for further investment in brand development. Trusts were asked to replace existing artwork as part of natural refreshes of signage and information rather than replace assets immediately.

As part of the brand identity the simplicity of the blue lozenge was and still is a core strength. It is neutral, contains no political signifiers and is neither particularly progressive nor traditional in its design elements. The simplicity meant that it was straightforward for communication professionals in local organisations to implement. This helped the new identity gain support even though many organisations were being asked to replace beloved and historic logos, the logic was undeniable. 

Whilst recent results from the British Social Attitudes Survey from the King’s Fund suggests that public satisfaction in the NHS is at an all time low, the strategic importance of the NHS brand still stands today. The double edged sword of an effective brand is that public perception is often polarised. The service is considered either evangelically good or wholly inadequate. Neither are true. The NHS brand remains, as it was in 1999, representative of a tapestry of complex services, systems and cultures.  

Image of the Red Cross

The Red Cross is an internationally protected emblem and its misuse constitutes a breach of the Geneva Convention

The NHS brand is however a masterclass in how to forge identity and purpose and how to help a workforce of 1.4 million people and a population of around 56 million have a clear understanding of goals, strategic approach and direction. It is an example of the value of investing in professional strategic communication.  

We’ve asked some well known experts their views on the NHS brand and why think it’s endured and what the future will hold. Take a look. 

 

References:

[1] https://peopleshistorynhs.org/encyclopaedia/branding/

[2] Public Satisfaction With The NHS And Social Care In 2022 | The King’s Fund (kingsfund.org.uk)

Blue lozenge 25: Celebrating 25 years of the national rollout of the NHS brand

Summary

Blue Lozenge marks the 25th anniversary of the national rollout of the NHS brand, which launched in April 1999 and replaced over 600 individual brands and sub-brands with a single corporate identity. The piece traces the brand’s origins in the Labour government’s shift towards integrated care, its survival through successive structural reorganisations from Primary Care Groups to Integrated Care Boards, and its cultural prominence including its appearance in the London 2012 Olympic opening ceremony and COVID-19 public health communications. Research cited from a 2015 NHS England study found that the public perceived the logo as having always existed, reflecting the depth of its recognition. The agency draws a direct connection between the NHS brand values of collaboration and integration and its own company identity.

 

This month we’re celebrating 25 years since the national rollout of the NHS brand.  Following an intelligent rebranding exercise in 1999, the new identity replaced 600 brand and sub-brands to create one corporate identity. The NHS ‘blue lozenge’ became synonymous with One NHS and it became a unifying symbol of national pride.  

It is from this that we developed our own company name as we seek to personify the same values of collaboration and integration. But how did the NHS brand become so iconic?

How did such an iconic brand come into being?

NHS Logo and brand details

NHS logo

Whilst the blue Pantone 300 lozenge and the Frutiger bold italic ‘NHS’ lettering came into being much earlier, the national rollout of the NHS brand began in earnest in April 1999. Since then, it has endured and has been the centrepiece of government healthcare policy. 

In 1999, Labour formalised the move away from a healthcare model that aimed to treat people on an illness-by-illness basis and towards a system that can handle complex needs that require cross-departmental co-ordination. It replaced the internal market with 481 Primary Care Groups (PCGs). These PCGs were to operate under a unified NHS identity. 

It can be hard, even for those of us old enough, to remember how we viewed the national health service before the unified NHS identify was introduced. It was likely that we simply thought of our own local doctor and hospital. A 2015 NHS England study found that people viewed the NHS logo as having been there “forever”, when in fact it had been a common sight for the public for less than two decades at that point.[1] 

Since the logo’s introduction, the NHS model has evolved numerous times. Over time, PCGs became Primary Care Trusts (PCTs), which then became Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) before the introduction in July 2022 of Integrated Care Boards (ICBs). Through all of these evolutions and successive governments, no parliament has made any fundamental changes to the NHS identity. 

The appearance of the NHS logo in Danny Boyle's Olympics opening ceremony

Source: BBC

Film director Danny Boyle understood the power of the NHS brand and featured it prominently in the London 2012 Olympic opening ceremony. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the logo and its design elements were used to rally the public around social distancing rules and provide visible public support to England’s healthcare workers. 

Today, the national corporate identity of the NHS brand has endured for 25 years more or less unchanged, a 2017 tightening of usage guidelines aside.[2] In a world where corporations undergo rebranding exercises every few years, the NHS logo, like the health service it represents, has held remarkably steadfast and dependable.  

At the time of the national rollout, as is often the case, the investment in communication and branding in the NHS was mistakenly criticised. However, the longevity and impact of that brand cannot be underestimated. It is a testament to the power of simple, powerful strategic communication in healthcare.  

We’ve asked some well-known experts and members of the public their thoughts on the brand, why they think it’s endured and what they think the future holds. Take a look. 

References

https://www.england.nhs.uk/nhsidentity/wp-content/uploads/sites/38/2016/08/NHS-Identity-Research-phase-one-and-two.pdf

https://threetenseven.co/work/nhs-england-nhs-identity/