In this paper the inverse solution of the general (non-linear) diffusion problem or backward heat conduction problem. It is assumed that the direct solution can be satisfactorily modelled, for example by the finite difference method. The nature of the problem and typical approaches to its solution are briefly reviewed. An operator-splitting method is introduced as a means of solving the inverse diffusion problem. An error analysis of the method is given, particularly for the application of the method to the simple diffusion equation. The method is applied to a range of test problems to illustrate the points of the analysis and to demonstrate the properties and performance of the method.