Health management guide. Managing mergers

Structural change is everywhere in the health service. Driven by political imperatives, the logic of the market and the frenetic pace of development in medical technology, the impetus on both purchasers and providers is towards merger into fewer, more influential organisations. But as health authorities combine to increase their purchasing power, moving ever closer to family health services authorities, and as trusts rethink patterns of service provision to maintain a competitive edge, are they getting it right? This Health Management Guide surveys the changing health service landscape and puts forward a practical manifesto for successful mergers.