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Increasing autonomy in publically owned services.

Authors :
Cameron, Ailsa
Allen, Pauline
Williams, Lorraine
Durand, Mary Alison
Bartlett, Will
Perotin, Virginie
Hutchings, Andrew
Source :
Journal of Health Organization & Management; 2015, Vol. 29 Issue 6, p778-794, 17p
Publication Year :
2015

Abstract

<bold>Purpose: </bold>The purpose of this paper is to explore government efforts to enhance the autonomy of community health services (CHS) in England through the creation of Foundation Trusts status. It considers why some CHS elected to become nascent Community Foundation Trusts (CFTs) while others had not and what advantages they thought increased levels of autonomy offered.<bold>Design/methodology/approach: </bold>Data are drawn from the evaluation of the Department of Health's CFT pilot programme. Participants were purposively selected from pilot sites, as well as from comparator non-pilot organisations. A total of 44 staff from 14 organisations were interviewed.<bold>Findings: </bold>The data reveals that regardless of the different pathways that organisations were on, they all shared the same goal, a desire for greater autonomy, but specifically within the NHS. Additionally, irrespective of their organisational form most organisations were considering an almost identical set of initiatives as a means to improve service delivery and productivity.<bold>Research Limitations/implications: </bold>Despite the expectations of policy makers no CFTs were established during the course of the study, so it is not possible to find out what the effect of such changes were. Nevertheless, the authors were able to investigate the attitudes of all the providers of CHS to the plans to increase their managerial autonomy, whether simply by separating from PCTs or by becoming CFTs.<bold>Originality/value: </bold>As no CFTs have yet been formed, this study provides the only evidence to date about increasing autonomy for CHS in England. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
14777266
Volume :
29
Issue :
6
Database :
Complementary Index
Journal :
Journal of Health Organization & Management
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
109886643
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1108/JHOM-06-2014-0098