‘Closed policy networks, broken chains of communication and the stories behind an ‘entrepreneurial policy’: The case of NHS Local Improvement Finance Trust (NHS LIFT)

Article


Aldred, Rachel 2007. ‘Closed policy networks, broken chains of communication and the stories behind an ‘entrepreneurial policy’: The case of NHS Local Improvement Finance Trust (NHS LIFT). Critical Social Policy. 27 (1), pp. 139-151.
AuthorsAldred, Rachel
Abstract

This article draws on original case study research to develop more general conclusions about policy-making processes under New Labour. I discuss the Local Improvement Finance Trust (LIFT) as an exemplar of new trends in contemporary capitalist welfare regimes, and I compare some of the enterprise rhetoric surrounding and justifying LIFT to the experiences of National Health Service managers and clinicians in my case study. I consider why many of the voices that I studied appear to remain unheard outside private interviews and meetings, and conclude that changes in the public sector are helping to create closed networks that are unresponsive to concerns expressed ‘on the ground’. Finally, I consider some implications of my data for the future of neo-liberal welfare policies.

Keywordshealth care; neo-liberalism; privatization; public private partnerships; National Health Service; NHS; Local Improvement Finance Trust; LIFT; welfare; hospitals
JournalCritical Social Policy
Journal citation27 (1), pp. 139-151
ISSN0261-0183
Year2007
Accepted author manuscript
License
CC BY-ND
Web address (URL)http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0261018307072211
http://hdl.handle.net/10552/224
Publication dates
Print2007
Publication process dates
Deposited29 Jul 2009
Additional information

Citation:
Aldred, R (2007) ‘Closed policy networks, broken chains of communication and the stories behind an ‘entrepreneurial policy’: The case of NHS Local Improvement Finance Trust (NHS LIFT)’ Critical Social Policy 27 (1) 139 - 151.

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