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Commissioning in the English National Health Service: What's the Problem?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2012

KATH CHECKLAND ,
STEPHEN HARRISON ,
STEPHANIE SNOW ,
IMELDA MCDERMOTT  and
ANNA COLEMAN
KATH CHECKLAND*
Affiliation:
Clinical Senior Lecturer, School of Community-based Medicine, 5th Floor, Williamson Building, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL
STEPHEN HARRISON
Affiliation:
School of Community-based Medicine, 5th Floor, Williamson Building, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL
STEPHANIE SNOW
Affiliation:
School of Community-based Medicine, 5th Floor, Williamson Building, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL
IMELDA MCDERMOTT
Affiliation:
School of Community-based Medicine, 5th Floor, Williamson Building, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL
ANNA COLEMAN
Affiliation:
School of Community-based Medicine, 5th Floor, Williamson Building, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL
*
[email protected]
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Abstract

The English NHS is currently organised around a split between the ‘commissioning’ and the ‘providing’ of health care. There has been considerable critical comment about commissioning, focusing upon perceived inadequacies of the regulatory structure and a perceived lack of competence of the managers concerned. In this paper, we use empirical data from two detailed studies of commissioning to propose a third explanation of the difficulties that have been observed in making commissioning work. We apply Scott's institutional analysis to the issue, arguing that far from reflecting managerial incompetence, some of the difficulties experienced are inherent in the normative and cultural/cognitive pillars of the NHS institution, so that there is a lack of ‘fit’ between commissioning and the institutional characteristics of the NHS. We conclude by exploring the potential impact of the latest round of NHS changes on this institution.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Social Policy , Volume 41 , Issue 3 , July 2012 , pp. 533 - 550
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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