Creating a Health Care Market: Myth or Reality? Available to Purchase

The authors of the NHS White Paper ‘Working for Patients’ apparently wish to create a UK health care market, ie a network of purchasers and providers who contract with one another. However the rules governing the behaviour of these actors may create a market which is not competitive but highly regulated. This thesis is explored here in the context of self‐governing hospitals (SGHs). The characteristics of a market are set out elsewhere. Even though the White Paper is terse and incomplete, the rules which will determine the behaviour of SGHs are clearly set out and may inhibit considerably the freedom of managers. To explore these constraints and other areas in which the rules of management may have considerable impact on economic efficiency, a series of questions is posed.