Health and social care

Abstract

This is the second of the four chapters applying the two models to particular sectors. In England, Health and Social Care are two interrelated public services with both the largest budgets and projected rises in future service demand, mostly because of long-term factors out-side of their short-term control, such as demographic changes. The Health and Social Care Act 2012 represented the most significant systematic change to the operational environment and institutional architecture of healthcare since the introduction of the welfare state. Since implementation, there have been continual attempts to mitigate its baleful impact on accountability, service delivery, and public assurance. Although the ‘matching parts’ of accountability and transparency should have become clearer in healthcare, we find that it has actually become more opaque.