Autonomy, accountability, and ambiguity in arm’s-length meta-governance: the case of NHS England

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Meta-governance involves orchestrating the ‘rules of the game’ in public management. Arm’s-length bodies are particularly important vehicles for this. We consider the case of an arm’s-length body (NHS England) created to oversee the English NHS’ day-to-day operation, and remove “political interference”. Although mandated by the Department of Health it has increasingly operated as policy-maker, developing policies in tension with existing legislation, while Ministers have faded from public-facing accounts of service operation. This suggests NHS England operates as a meta-governor, insulating government whilst pursuing its own agenda, and raises crucial questions about governmental accountability whilst simultaneously making answers harder to obtain.
Original languageEnglish
JournalPublic Management Review
Early online date16 Nov 2018
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2018

Keywords

  • meta-governance
  • Accountability
  • Autonomy
  • Healthcare
  • NHS

Research Beacons, Institutes and Platforms

  • Manchester Urban Institute

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