A delicate operation
13 September 2012
The new Purchasing and Supply Agency starts life on 1 April, as part of the government’s shake-up of buying in the NHS. Elizabeth Bellamy assesses the challenges it is likely to face
NHS bashing is a common political practice these days. Controversies, such as those surrounding recent reports of mixed-sex wards and patients being treated in corridors, provide easy ammunition for the opposition, and bed and funding shortages are a perennial sore point for any government.
But scratch below the surface of the parliamentary wrangling and you...