From service delivery to solution delivery: commissioning for health improvement

The further division of responsibilities between commissioners and providers in England will have far-reaching consequences and opportunities for developing and enhancing health improvement. Commissioners will have the opportunity to craft local solutions to local issues. To be effective, these local responses need to tackle the core determinants of health and to build the social capital that is at the heart of all communities that enjoy high standards of health. This paper argues that the new arrangements mark an evolution of the Beveridge model of healthcare (centralized, top down and professionally prescribed) to a post-Beveridge model characterized by it being decentralized, localized and utilizing professional skills in the pursuit of client and community satisfaction and engagement rather than a narrowly defined professional perspective. This paper indicates some of the key conceptual changes commissioners need to employ to take advantage of the emerging opportunities. It is argued that the new arrangements will only be fully effective if commissioners of health improvement programmes ensure they factor in health promotion and social marketing expertise, both in the strategic and operational phases of commissioning. Finally, predictions are made about changes in the values and characteristics of current health improvement organizations.