Evaluating the impact of NHS reforms: policy, process and power

This chapter introduces the prevalence of NHS reforms since its inception and the lack of discussion and evaluation of these reforms following their implementation. The chapter offers a brief summary of the Coalition government health reforms, and introduces the concept of ‘reform fatigue.’ The authors state that in the remainder of the book, four themes will be used to explain the significance of Coalition health reforms in their analysis. The first theme is the re-organisation within fiscal constraints. The second is centralisation and localism. The third is marketization, and the fourth is health care quality and patient safety. The authors give further descriptions of these themes. The chapter concludes by offering an overview of the organisation of the remainder of the book.