ABSTRACT
I ntroduction Rudolf Klein has perceptively noted that 'learning about other countries i s rather like breathing - only the brain dead are likely to avoid the experience' . 1 However, turning learning about other countries into learning from them requires incentives and hard work. Over the last 20 years or so the Department of Health has become much more willing to learn from others* - not only other countries, but also other Government departments and the private sector - and has devoted increasing resources to studying their experiences and identifying ideas or approaches that may be relevant to the NHS .
