'A potential fifth column': conflicts and struggles for control in the context of local NHS privatization.
This article uses case study data to discuss how a new procurement policy (Local Improvement Finance Trust, or LIFT) in English primary care may affect general practitioners' control over their work. LIFT, a series of 51 public-private partnerships, will enable over the medium term a shift towards the corporate ownership of surgeries and the creation of polyclinics or 'onestop-shops'. In this article, I explore the struggles over work autonomy and control within these new LIFT structures, as expressed by clinicians and managers in meetings and in research interviews. More generally, I consider how the findings inform debates over the changing position of professionals within increasingly financialized 'local health economies'.
Aldred
Rachel
R
University of East London, London, UK. R.E.Aldred@uel.ac.uk
D000884:Anthropology, Cultural; D006801:Humans; D010358:Patient Participation; D011216:Practice Management, Medical / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011332:Privatization / Q000458:organization & administration*; D017009:Professional Autonomy; D013222:State Medicine / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006113:United Kingdom