Partnership with private sector only way to tackle waiting lists properly
Government plans for five to ten years ahead tend to be affected by deep discounting and great uncertainty about future funding. Even a prime ministerial assurance may not be worth much against the global market place. Long term plans have their place, but should be thought of as a process with a series of steps. The key question is about the first phase: can we get momentum going in making a real difference to the problem?
Consuming health care
Another year winds itself up like a scroll. As the final few days stretch out before the festive season, managers throughout the country will be hoping that the seasonal flu remains as it is at present: mainly of the least virulent strain. The prayer must be that, if not ‘the season to be jolly’, this winter will not be the cause of misery for patients and for all the team of staff throughout the health service.
International transfers of National Health Service reforms: problems and issues
Recent market-style reforms in the UK National Health Service (NHS) have attracted the attention of health care professionals, managers, and policy-makers from many developing and central and eastern European countries. This article asks how NHS managers and health professionals should react to such international interest. Six key issues have to be considered when introducing market-style reforms into developing and eastern European countries. First, health sector reform should be formulated on the basis of sound research and evidence. We should also take particular care in understanding how efficiency contributes to health policy objectives and the extent to which private management practices are appropriate to the public sector. We should also question the value of international technology transfer and evaluate the experiences of health sector reform in other countries. Last we should look at the way in which health sector reform is formulated and implemented. Here we highlight important questions about the suitability of replicating the UK experience in other countries.