Care in the Community and the Contract Culture

Abstract

Radical reform of the health and community care sectors has been a major undertaking of recent Conservative governments. The 1989 White Papers Working for Patients and Caring for People, together with subsequent development, have introduced a significant restructuring of both services. The essence of this is the creation of what has been variously called a planned market (Saltman and Von Otter, 1992), a quasi‐market (LeGrand). This in turn reflects a wider trend in redefining the role and nature of the welfare state within western democratic societies. This is captured by notions of “enabling” and “contracting” — hence the term “the contract state”.

Citation

Carswell, L. and Connolly, M. (1994), "Care in the Community and the Contract Culture", Management Research News, Vol. 17 No. 7/8/9, pp. 25-27. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb028350