ABSTRACT
In the NHS White Paper, The New NHS, the government proposes replacing the GP fundholding scheme with Primary Care Groups (Department of Health, 1997). A recently completed research project (Ellwood, 1997) sponsored by the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants examined how GP fundholders have used their delegated budgets to purchase hospital care for their patients in the NHS internal market. The main findings of this study are set out below and the implications for 'the new NHS' examined.
