RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Locality commissioning: how much influence have general practitioners really had?
JF British Journal of General Practice
JO Br J Gen Pract
FD British Journal of General Practice
SP 903
OP 904
VO 49
IS 448
A1 C H Hart
A1 N Drummond
A1 M Deane
A1 R Chopra
YR 1999
UL http://bjgp.org/content/49/448/903.abstract
AB This paper investigates the various models of locality commissioning in relation to the participation of general practitioners (GPs), and explores the perceived successes of locality commissioning in the 15 health boards in Scotland and 13 health authorities in the Northern and Yorkshire Region of England. A postal questionnaire was sent to 190 individuals involved in commissioning, and semi-structured interviews with GPs (n = 31) and health authority managers (n = 41) were undertaken in each of the 28 health authorities. Seventy-five per cent of the health authorities had introduced some form of locality commissioning. Five types of locality commissioning organization were identified on the basis of the level of GP influence over decisions. All GP responders identified benefits resulting from their involvement in the process but only 27% of health authority responders did so. Most benefits related to improved professional relationships, not to service changes. On the whole, locality commissioning does not appear to have resulted in major changes to contracts or services.