What do we know about fundholding in general practice?

BMJ 1995;311:727-730 (16 September)

General practice

What do we know about fundholding in general practice?

Jennifer Dixon, senior registrar in public health,^a Howard Glennerster, professor of social administration ^b

^a Health Services Research Unit, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London WC1E7HT, ^b Suntory and Toyota International Centres for Economics and Related Disciplines, London School of Economics and Political Science, London WC2A 2AE

Correspondence to: Dr J Dixon, King's Fund Policy Institute, London W1M 0AN.

Abstract

Key messages

Key messages
Evidence suggests that giving general practitioners budgets has helped to curb the costs of prescribing in primary care
Giving general practitioners budgets has also helped them to lever improvements in hospital services
The impact of fundholding on transaction costs, equity, and quality of care (particularly for patients of non-fundholding general practitioners) is largely unknown
Research into reforms of the NHS should be coordinated and study design strengthened

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