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Description of  Decentering Health and Care Networks: Reshaping the Organization and Delivery of Healthcare

Networks have become a prominent template for public service governance, no less so than in healthcare organizations. As an alternative to hierarchies and contract, networks cross institutionalized organizational or sectoral boundaries to promote the sharing of resources. Nowhere is this more the case than in the field of health services modernization and improvement. Comprising of unique empirical contributions, drawn primarily from the experience of the UK National Health Services (NHS), this edited collection develops a decentred analysis of health and care networks. Contributors look beyond the particular structures or patterns of governance and focus instead on the interpretation of the situated and meaningful practices of policy actors as they encounter and enact policy instruments and structures. The approach offers a distinct form of analysis that deepens and enriches more traditional public policy accounts of network governance. It recognises the influence of local history, highlights the influence of dominant economic, technical and corporate narratives, and acknowledges the continued influence of biomedical knowledge and professional expertise. Offering practical insight for current and future service leaders about the challenges of implementing, managing and working within networks, this book draws out key messages for practitioners and researchers alike.