Home
News
Research
Publications
Events
People
Press
MSc
Economics Dept
Search
Contact Us
Internal
Page



|
Propper C, Croxson B and Shearer A, (2002)
‘Waiting Times for Hospital Admissions: the Impact of GP Fundholding’
Journal of Health Economics, 21 (2): 227-252
- Investigates whether GP fundholders were able to secure reduced waiting
times for hospital treatment for their patients.
- Examines whether this
effect, insofar as it is present, was due to the financial rewards
they could offer to hospitals, and whether the impact
of fundholding spilled over into shorter waiting times for all patients.
- Under
the Internal Market reforms, fundholders were given funds to pay hospitals
directly for some treatments, and could choose the hospital to which they referred
each patient.
- The authors use all hospital admission data relating to the North
West Anglia
Health Authority for the years 1993/4 to 1996/7.
Key results:
- Where fundholders paid for their patient’s care, they secured
reductions in waiting times of about 8%.
- Where they could only choose
hospitals, but not pay for care, they were rarely able to reduce
the time their patients had to wait for
treatment.
- The net effect of the scheme on the time fundholders’ patients
had to wait for hospital treatment was small and not significantly
different from zero.
- The incentives created by GP fundholding do not
appear to have been catalysts for general changes within hospitals.
Top of Page
|