Managerial Issues in the Reformed NHS

Managerial Issues in the Reformed NHS Edited by M. Malek, P. Vacani, J. Rasquinha and P. Davey University of St Andrews, Fife, Scotland Health care systems around the world are in transition, and in the United Kingdom the implementation of government reforms has raised many problems relating to the managerial process within the National Health Service.

The proposed division between purchasers and providers has not only altered the balance of power within the health system and led to a different pattern of health care delivery, but has also introduced the practical problems of how to audit and price health care in the internal market, how to use information technology to collect and analyse data, how to improve the quality of care, and how to adapt the skill-mix of managerial and clinical staff to meet the new organisational objectives of health care delivery. In this companion volume to Strategic Issues in Health Care Management prominent health care specialists discuss theoretical and practical aspects of the reformed National Health Service, including topics such as pricing health care, quality, ideology and consumer choice, managing medicine through medical audit, decision-making and strategic information systems planning.

Health managers, economists, practitioners, planners and policy-makers will find this a valuable guide to the latest academic research relevant to current developments in health care practice and delivery.