ABSTRACT
Public relations is about planned and deliberate communication. In the complex and rapidly changing world of health care, any organization which fails to communicate in planned and deliberate ways may leave patients, public, staff and opinion formers confused, angry or without confidence in its work. Every day, in countless exchanges, health care professionals and supporting staff are communicating one-to-one with patients, relatives and other users of their services. Hospital and community services, trusts, family doctor practices, primary care teams, health authorities and all the other branches of the vast health service network are communicating with each other, the general public, other agencies, key opinion formers and the news media. Public relations recognizes the dimension and complexity of health service communications and the need for a systematic way of supporting, ordering and improving them. A communications action plan concentrates the minds of those who act and speak for the organization.
