PRU Comm, May 2015
- This three year project investigated how commissioners negotiated, specified, monitored and managed contractual mechanisms to improve services and allocate financial risk in their local health economies, looking at both acute services and community health care.
- A series of three in depth case studies of three local health economies and telephone surveys (2012/ 2014) found that most of the contractual relationships between NHS owned acute providers and commissioners were characterised by the use of general annual financial settlements outside the terms of the National Tariff rules and the contract.
- Financial incentives (CQUINs) to improve quality contained in contracts were in widespread use. However, CQUINs were seen as time consuming to negotiate and monitor. There was concern that there were too many different CQUINs each year, and some areas had started to reduce the numbers used.
