Service-line management: an approach to hospital management (2024)

Service-line management

Service-line management (SLM) is a combination of management and business planning techniques designed to improve the way healthcare is delivered. It was developed for NHS foundation trusts by Monitor.

Service-line management involves identifying the different business units, or ‘service lines’, of an NHS foundation trust and understanding how they contribute to the trust’s performance as a whole, allowing clinicians and managers to deliver improvements in quality and productivity at the specialty level.

Service-line management aims to ensure more effective use of resources to fund better patient care, benefiting both patients and taxpayers. In the longer term, it can contribute to improved quality and patient experience.