Market testing specialist health promotion services--a test case for an imaginative public health presence in purchasing.
This paper focuses on the current pressure being imposed upon health promotion services in the 'North West' Region in the form of 'market testing'. It suggests that this is not only of concern to those services themselves, but may also act as a 'test case' for the examination of the range of competing perspectives that inform a purchasing function. The tensions between the views that respectively support or question the application of market values is thus examined in relation to the role of public health specialists within purchasing organizations. The paper concludes that although there is some potential to 'sharpen up' services, caution is required in avoiding unrestricted market values leading to superficial and fragmented health promotion provision. It is admitted that there are consequences relating to health promotion specialists. However, because of the close affinity between promotion and public health, failure to protect health promotion from the harshness of the market and ensure a broad-based approach will not only be a set-back for health promotion but will also harm the status of 'public health perspectives' in the broader purchasing context.
Whitelaw
S
S
School of Epidemiology and Health Sciences, Medical School, University of Manchester.
McKeown
K
K
Green
F
F
D003284:Contract Services; D003659:Decision Making, Organizational; D004739:England; D006293:Health Promotion; D008389:Marketing of Health Services; D009313:National Health Programs; D011787:Quality of Health Care