NHS purchaserprovider relationships in england and wales : the view from primary care
By: ABBOTT, Stephen
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Contributor(s): PROCTER, Sussan | IACOVOU, Nicci.
Material type: 
ArticlePublisher: Wiley-Blackwell, february2009Social Policy & Administration 43, 1, p. 1-14Abstract: Primary care organizations (PCOs) in the National Health Service in England and Wales are required to purchase most hospital-based health care for their populations. This 'quasi-market' in health care can be seen as 'relational', characterized by an emphasis on cooperative long-term relationships rather than on true competition. The English government has recently introduced new market mechanisms as a response to the perceived weakness of the relational market. This article draws on three qualitative case studies of PCOs to investigate whether PCO personnel interviewed in 2005/6 concurred with that perception of weakness. Overall, relationships between PCOs and hospital services providers were regarded as unbalanced in favour of the latter, despite a shared framework of central government policy. Commissioners were seen as generally weak, and providers were judged to be generally unresponsive to PCOs' wishes. Topdown pressure by governments on PCOs and providers of hospital services was more important than commissioning power in shaping hospital services. It remains to be seen whether the remarketization strategy succeeds in strengthening the commissioning function in primary care.
Primary care organizations (PCOs) in the National Health Service in England and Wales are required to purchase most hospital-based health care for their populations. This 'quasi-market' in health care can be seen as 'relational', characterized by an emphasis on cooperative long-term relationships rather than on true competition. The English government has recently introduced new market mechanisms as a response to the perceived weakness of the relational market. This article draws on three qualitative case studies of PCOs to investigate whether PCO personnel interviewed in 2005/6 concurred with that perception of weakness. Overall, relationships between PCOs and hospital services providers were regarded as unbalanced in favour of the latter, despite a shared framework of central government policy. Commissioners were seen as generally weak, and providers were judged to be generally unresponsive to PCOs' wishes. Topdown pressure by governments on PCOs and providers of hospital services was more important than commissioning power in shaping hospital services. It remains to be seen whether the remarketization strategy succeeds in strengthening the commissioning function in primary care.
Primary health care Hospital health care Health care markets Relational markets Commissioning
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