Public enterprises in the healthcare sector – a case study of Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Greenwich, England

Abstract

This article responds to a call for more studies of public enterprises with a case study of a public healthcare enterprise, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH), in Greenwich, England. The QEH was the first hospital to be placed “in administration” since the NHS was founded in 1948. The QEH is a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) hospital. The impact on the QEH, as a PFI hospital, of changes in legislation and bureaucracy and new arrangements for NHS marketisation are examined. The path to being declared an “unsustainable provider” is outlined, with a critique of the recommendations for the merger of the QEH with another local hospital.

Keywords:

• public enterprise
• healthcare
• marketisation
• public–private partnerships
• public policy
• regulation

JEL Classifications:

• H 83
• I18