Published 31 March 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b1127
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;338:b1127

Feature

Primary care

Opening up the primary medical care market

Jo Ellins, research fellow, Chris Ham, professor of health policy and management , Helen Parker, co-director

1 Health Services Management Centre, Birmingham, B15 2RT

Correspondence to: J Ellins J.L.Ellins@bham.ac.uk

By the end of March every primary care trust in England should have commissioned a new health centre. Jo Ellins, Chris Ham, and Helen Parker examine the effect of this attempt to open up the market

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Government reforms to the National Health Service in England have sought to increase the choices available to patients and to stimulate competition between healthcare providers. The emerging market in primary medical care has been underpinned by the introduction of the alternative provider medical services (APMS) contract, which allows primary care trusts (PCTs) to contract services from organisations that are outside the NHS, including commercial companies and voluntary sector providers. The contract also enables PCTs to specify what they require of primary medical care providers, rather than being constrained by the terms of the general medical services contract negotiated by the government and the British Medical Association.

PCTs were initially slow to promote choice and competition in primary medical care, and this led the government to launch the Equitable Access to Primary Medical Care programme in December 2007. Under the programme, every PCT in England is required to tender for a . . . [Full text of this article]


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This article has been cited by other articles:

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