White paper

About: White paper is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 3852 publications have been published within this topic receiving 51169 citations. The topic is also known as: White paper & White papers.

Primary care: opportunities and threats Deregulating primary care

Abstract: The 1996 primary care white paper, Choice and Opportunity , offers scope for a wide range of new organisations to enter the market for NHS primary care. If the new law is implemented it will sweep away many of the existing legislative, budgetary, and procedural barriers to innovation, initially through a range of pilot schemes. Full implementation could end general practitioners' monopoly of general medical services and permit experimental alternatives to the single national contract for general practitioners. Such pilots have the potential for creating better primary care, especially in inner cities, through new employment options, such as salaried posts. There are, however, considerable risks. For example, the legislation will allow piloting of new forms of vertically integrated provider organisations, thereby eroding the purchaser-provider separation established by the NHS changes of 1991. The proposals in the white paper also require local health authorities to develop primary care and regulate the pilot schemes at a time when they have lost many staff. To ensure equity of innovation pilots must emerge where primary care most needs improving and pilots must be evaluated thoroughly before they are applied widely. ADRIAN TAYLOR/THE INKSHED The launch of the primary care white paper, Choice and Opportunity ,1 last October was accompanied by a rash of newspaper headlines heralding a revolution in primary care provision. Reports said that pharmacy chains such as Boots and UniChem, American managed care organisations, and even the supermarket chains Tesco, Asda, and Safeway were considering offering primary care services.2 3 4 5 Since October, concern has been growing about the consequences of the imminent break up of the general practitioners' professional monopoly and about the risks of allowing hospitals or commercial organisations to provide primary care.6 7 8 Despite this, ministers have attempted to downplay the headlines and have …

The Digital Imperative

Abstract: The pervasiveness of digital technologies and their potential for reshaping the industry landscape dictates that organizations operating today have little choice but to incorporate digital technologies into their business strategies. Failure to do so will impede the business’s viability, and may ultimately lead to business failure. However, for those organizations that successfully transition to digital business, unprecedented business opportunities exist for value creation and realization. However, transitioning to digital business involves a transforming and fundamental change to all aspects of an organization and its understanding of its place in the wider ecosystem. This white paper contributes to the topical digital imperative discussion in what is termed the third era of the enterprise. It highlights the driving forces behind digital business, and the cultural mindset shifts and other adjustments involved in implementing digital change.

Expert perspectives on the past, present and future of travel plans in the UK

Abstract: From a public policy perspective, travel plans are attractive to regional and local government since they are relatively cheap and quick to introduce and are normally politically acceptable. Meanwhile from a company perspective there are usually circumstances where an issue such as: access, a shortage of parking, a lack of space or finance, issues with neighbouring organisations, a need for planning permission or to enhance the organisation’s image – means there are potentially significant benefits from adopting a travel plan. In the absence of such motivations the majority of organisations have simply not participated in helping to solve something that is not legally or institutionally ‘their problem’. As such, a number of studies (see Rye, 2002; Bradshaw, 1997; Coleman, 2000) have stated that less than ten percent of large private businesses (of over 100 employees) have adopted travel plans while small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) have taken even less of an interest. This lack of engagement can be attributed to a number of reasons. In particular, Rye (2002) identifies key barriers to wider travel plan implementation, namely: • Companies’ self interest and internal organisational barriers; • Lack of regulatory requirements for travel plans; • Personal taxation and commuting issues; • The poor quality of alternatives (particularly public transport); • Lack of examples due to novelty of the concept. In addition, while the UK Government has formally recognised the travel plan since its inclusion in the 1998 White Paper A New Deal for Transport: Better for Everyone (DETR, 1998), and has provided a whole series of support measures, these have tended to have been rather small scale, incremental and randomly applied. Travel plan policy meanwhile has largely been reactive and somewhat lacking in an overall strategic direction. Despite these barriers, travel plans are still in evidence and in fact are increasingly making an impression on the formulation of transport policy and practice and travel behaviour. The purpose of this Report is to ‘take stock’ in terms of what has occurred in terms of Travel Plans, to assess the current situation with respect to Travel Plans and then to predict how travel plan policy will develop in the future.

The UK's Research Assessment Exercise - Its Impact on Institutions, Departments, Individuals

Abstract: UK universities are publicly funded to carry out teaching and research. Since the mid-1980s, the bulk of the research stream of institutional grants has been allocated on the basis of periodic research assessment exercises, the most recent of which was completed in 2001. The results of RAE2001 will influence institutional grants from 2002-3 onwards. This paper explains the RAE system, discusses its advantages and drawbacks, outlines a framework within which it can be analysed, and examines some of the available evidence about the impact of the RAE. The paper then concludes that the RAE system as presently operated has outlived its usefulness, and that it should be replaced by an allocation method based on the volume of research grants and contracts attracted to an institution. A short postscript updates the paper to take into account the White Paper on higher education that was published in the UK in January 2003.