Negotiate with greater confidence, clarity and purpose. Learn how to prepare for important conversations, understand competing interests, respond constructively to pressure and work towards agreements that are both practical and sustainable.
Whether you are discussing resources, agreeing responsibilities, managing competing departmental priorities or seeking support for a service improvement, effective negotiation is more than bargaining. This online course gives you practical frameworks and techniques that can be adapted to everyday NHS and healthcare settings.
Self-paced videos, exercises and negotiation-style questionnaire · CPD certificate on completion.
Book two places on this course, or book alongside another eligible professional development or interview course.
£95 for the complete programme. Your booking includes 90 days' access to the five core e-learning modules and additional resources. Your certificate for 4 CPD points is provided on completion.
Negotiation is not limited to formal contracts or high-stakes boardroom discussions. In healthcare, you may need to agree how work is shared, reconcile different priorities, secure support for a new service or find a practical way forward when colleagues disagree.
Effective negotiation starts with preparation and an understanding of the interests behind other people's positions. It also requires judgement about what can be traded, when to challenge an assumption, when to pause and how to close a discussion with commitments that can actually be delivered.
ISC Medical's self-paced Negotiation Skills Course brings together the negotiation cycle, BATNA, five negotiation styles, tradables, questioning, behavioural insights and practical closing techniques. The aim is to give you a more structured way to approach difficult conversations, not a formula for getting your own way.
Five core modules + additional resources · Approximately 4 hours · 4 CPD points · £95
These topics bring together the skills needed to prepare, communicate, influence and reach practical agreements. Each is illustrated through techniques and situations you can relate to healthcare practice.
Understand why traditional positional bargaining can become confrontational, and how a more collaborative approach helps uncover what each party genuinely needs. You will learn when a negotiation calls for compromise, joint problem-solving or a clearer boundary.
Use a four-stage structure—planning, discussion, bargaining and closing—so difficult conversations feel less improvised. Explore what each stage is for and how the quality of one stage affects the next.
Prepare by identifying what you want to achieve, what matters most and where your limits lie. Understand BATNA (your best alternative to a negotiated agreement) and why it helps you judge when an agreement is genuinely worthwhile.
Explore five different approaches to negotiation, identify your own tendencies through a questionnaire and negotiation matrix, and consider when a different style may be more appropriate to the situation or relationship.
Recognise how personality, assumptions, emotions and competing priorities influence negotiation. Develop a more deliberate approach to the other person’s interests without losing sight of your own.
Use purposeful questions and active listening to gather information. Explore chunking as a way to move between wider objectives and specific details, build common ground and make complex discussions more manageable.
Identify things you can offer, request or exchange without assuming that price, time or workload is the only variable. Explore sources of influence such as legitimacy, preparation, confidence and alternatives.
Examine Cialdini’s principles of influence, nudging and the psychology of decision-making. Consider how to apply persuasive techniques ethically, with respect for choice and the professional relationship.
Use perspective-taking approaches, including perceptual positions and Dilts’ Logical Levels, as structured prompts for understanding different viewpoints, motivations and barriers to agreement.
Learn to recognise common negotiation tactics, including bogies and mirages, and respond without unnecessary escalation. Consider the role of silence, cognitive biases and emotional reactions when discussions become difficult.
Judge success in terms of value, relationships, implementation and long-term commitment—not simply whether you obtained an immediate concession. Explore SMART closing to turn a conversation into clear, workable agreements.
Study five core learning modules covering negotiation styles, the negotiation cycle, practical techniques, psychology and measuring success. A sixth module provides additional resources. You have 90 days of access to work through the programme at your own pace.
Explore the five main negotiation styles and identify your own approach. Understand the difference between positional bargaining and interest-based negotiation, and consider how different styles suit different situations and professional relationships.
Learn the four stages of negotiation: planning, discussion, bargaining and closing. Develop a more structured approach to preparation, questioning, listening, building agreement and bringing discussions to a conclusion.
Practise techniques including chunking, identifying tradables, building consensus and using leverage. Explore sources of negotiation power and recognise tactics such as bogies and mirages so you can respond constructively.
Understand how motivation, values and behaviour influence decisions. Explore Cialdini’s principles of persuasion, nudging, perceptual positions and the biases that can affect negotiation outcomes.
Evaluate negotiated outcomes beyond short-term wins, taking account of value, relationships, commitment and implementation. Bring the course together and reflect on how to use its techniques in your own work.
Explore recommended TED Talks and further materials on negotiation, influence, communication and decision-making to extend and reinforce your learning.
Negotiation is useful at many career stages and across professional groups. The course is relevant to anyone who needs to reconcile priorities, influence decisions or work towards agreement with other people, whether or not they hold a formal management role.
Build confidence when negotiating study leave, rota changes, project responsibilities or opportunities for professional development, while recognising the importance of local policies and established processes.
Prepare for discussions about team priorities, service development, resources, responsibilities and competing departmental needs. Strengthen your ability to manage disagreement while maintaining professional relationships.
Use structured negotiation when discussing workload, staffing pressures, changes to practice or multidisciplinary responsibilities, particularly where different perspectives need to be heard.
Develop techniques for agreeing shared processes, clarifying responsibilities and influencing cross-professional decisions where you may not have direct authority over everyone involved.
Apply negotiation frameworks to operational discussions, changes in working arrangements, service improvement, resource decisions and stakeholder relationships.
Use negotiation skills when seeking support for new initiatives, agreeing project scope, reconciling competing interests or securing commitment to practical next steps.
The programme uses video teaching, structured explanations, a questionnaire, practical exercises and case studies. This lets you identify your own negotiation habits, learn a framework and consider how you would apply it in a real healthcare conversation.
Book the £95 programme and get 90 days of access to the course and resources.
Work through the core modules, practise with the questionnaire and exercises, and use the additional resources. Allow approximately four hours for the learning.
Complete the learning activities to receive your four-CPD-point certificate, and apply the techniques to workplace conversations.
ISC Medical's approach is to make professional development useful in the situations healthcare professionals actually encounter, connecting established concepts to practical decisions and communication.
The course connects negotiation theory to the kinds of discussions doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals face, rather than relying solely on generic business sales examples.
The negotiation cycle, BATNA, negotiation styles, tradables and closing techniques provide a framework you can adapt before, during and after important conversations.
Questionnaires, exercises and case studies encourage you to examine your own habits and think through how you might respond differently in real negotiations.
Study at your own pace with 90 days of access, practical activities, further learning resources and four CPD points on completion.
The course is designed for doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals who need to negotiate with colleagues, managers, teams or stakeholders. You do not need a formal leadership position: negotiation also arises in everyday discussions about responsibilities, resources, priorities and service improvements.
It is a self-paced online programme. There is no scheduled live teaching session: you work through the video-based learning, exercises and supporting resources at times that suit you.
The course takes approximately four hours to complete. You can spread this across shorter sessions rather than completing it in one sitting.
Your booking provides 90 days’ access to the online modules and supporting resources, so you can revisit techniques as you apply them to your own work.
The complete self-paced Negotiation Skills Course costs £95. This includes the modules, the additional resources and your certificate for four CPD points on completion.
You receive a certificate for four CPD points after completing the required online learning.
A completion certificate may be useful as evidence of professional development for appraisal, CCT or other portfolios. Whether it meets a particular requirement is determined by your specialty, curriculum or assessment pathway; the course cannot guarantee portfolio acceptance.
BATNA stands for Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement. It is the alternative available to you if the negotiation does not produce an agreement. The course covers preparation, priorities and walk-away points, including BATNA.
The course is intended for healthcare professionals and uses healthcare and workplace scenarios to explore negotiation. The same frameworks can help with conversations about service improvement, responsibilities, resources and working arrangements, although outcomes depend on local circumstances and policies.
Yes. A structured questionnaire and negotiation matrix help you reflect on your preferred negotiation style, its strengths and limitations, and when adapting your approach may be useful.
The course explains tactics and behavioural influences, but the aim is informed, professional negotiation: preparing carefully, understanding interests, communicating well and working towards sustainable agreements. Persuasion techniques should be used ethically.
The currently advertised offer is 10% off when booking two places on this course or when booking it alongside another eligible professional development or interview course. Check the basket for the applicable discount before paying.
The course includes practical exercises, case studies and reflection so you can identify situations in your own work where the frameworks might help. As with any skill, improvement depends on practising and adapting the techniques to the situation.
Learn how to plan, discuss, bargain and close with a clear understanding of interests, options and relationships. Study flexibly and put the techniques into practice in your own healthcare setting.
£95 · Five core modules + extra resources · 90 days' access · 4 CPD points
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