ABSTRACT
The existence of a gap between demand for and supply of health care services has posed a policy dilemma for United Kingdom (UK) Governments, since the start of the National Health Service (NHS). This chapter examines the decisions and actions of a group of health service managers and clinicians who were charged with resolving a local policy problem, which involved protracted waiting for orthopaedic services. In the UK, where the health service is publicly funded from general taxation, any suggestion that the public is not getting good value for money is politically sensitive. The theoretical framework adopted for the study of the Porsetshire case was policy network theory. The demand management element of the policy involved permitting General Practitioners (GPs) access to only a limited number of slots into which they could refer patients each year.
