Regeneration, rhetoric, and the NHS: the case of The Vital Connection

Abstract

The article focuses on the regeneration section of the National Health Service (NHS) document The Vital Connection. Regeneration is an issue new to the NHS and so the article examines the manner in which the text on regeneration is rhetorically constructed. Specifically the article's argument is that the rhetorical dimensions of the document are important in the attempt to convince an audience that the NHS is serious in its regeneration aims. The article goes on to rhetorically analyse the talk of two senior NHS human resource managers talking together about their NHS organisation's capacity and capability in relation to regeneration. In both the analysis of the framework document and the managers' talk. the rhetorical analysis focuses on the importance of the use of the example, the appeal through ethos and the trope of synecdoche in constructing the rhetoric of the text and talk of each.

Citation

Hamilton, P. (2004), "Regeneration, rhetoric, and the NHS: the case of The Vital Connection", International Journal of Public Sector Management, Vol. 17 No. 1, pp. 8-23. https://doi.org/10.1108/09513550410515574