Entrepreneurial Activity in the Public Sector: Evidence from UK Primary Care

Christine Ennew, Teresa Feighan and David Whynes
Additional contact information
Christine Ennew: University of Nottingham
Teresa Feighan: University of Nottingham
David Whynes: University of Nottingham

Chapter 3 in Choice and Public Policy, 1998, pp 42-61 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract The late 1980s and early 1990s witnessed some of the most fundamental changes in the provision of health care in the UK since the introduction of the National Health Service (NHS) itself over fifty years ago. The basic thrust of these reforms was to reproduce the characteristics of a market within a public sector activity, in order to enhance efficiency and improve quality. The central feature of this process was the institution of a purchaser-provider split to create a quasi-market in health care. Thus, while the state continues to fund the provision of health care, it ceases to be the sole provider. Instead the state or its agents purchase health services on behalf of consumers from a range of different providers. Two mechanisms drove the process of reform in the primary care sector; first, the institution of a new General Practitioner contract in 1990 which changed the terms and conditions under which GPs were required to provide care and second, the introduction of fundholding which devolved budgetary responsibility for the provision of primary care and the purchase of certain forms of secondary care to individual GP practices.

Keywords: Public Sector; National Health Service; Entrepreneurial Activity; Entrepreneurial Behaviour; Patient Satisfaction Survey (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1998
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:palchp:978-1-349-26302-8_3

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.palgrave.com/9781349263028

DOI: 10.1007/978-1-349-26302-8_3

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Palgrave Macmillan Books from Palgrave Macmillan
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().