Centre for Policy on Ageing



Juggling and dealing: the creative work of care package purchasing
Author(s)	Diana Leat, Elizabeth Perkins
Journal title	Social Policy and Administration, vol 32, no 2, June 1998
Pages	pp 166-181
Keywords	Needs [elderly] ; Community care ; Evaluation ; Grant allocation.
Annotation	In conventional diagrams of the new service delivery process, assessment of need is linked to purchase by a single line or arrow; the implication is that purchase follows more or less logically and directly from assessment. This paper focuses on the complex creative work that goes on in the "space" between assessment of need and purchase of service, and the changing influences on that work. "Purchase" is deconstructed to reveal the complex processes and calculations involved, and the ways in which budgets, "free" resources and markets influence the final outcome. The paper describes the effects on care package construction and purchase of changing policies, budget arrangements and financial limits; it goes on to outline the difficulties and complications in using information on unit costs in purchasing. It is suggested that talk of "playing shops" and use of "off-the-shelf" services underestimates the complexity of care package construction and purchase. (AKM).
Accession Number	CPA-980610406 A
Classmark	IK: PA: 4C: QCG
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...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.