Joint commissioning : Organisational revolution or misplaced enthusiasm?
- UK : Policy Press, july. 1995
One of the paradoxes of the shift towards markets in health and social care has been the renewed emphasis upon more effective collaboration between the professionals and agencies involved. This has led to a search for ways of developing a range of joint ventures such as information sharing, joint community care planning and joint assessment of needs. However, the most ambitious collaborative vehicle is the emergence of joint commissioning between health and social care and possibly additional agencies. This article explores the background to the development of joint commissioning and the nature of joint commissioning, and examines some of the obstacles which will need to be overcome if the new joint commissioning ventures are to succeed. It concludes that joint commissioning is more than a merely 'technical' purchasing activity, and that the political dimensions also need to be confronted