Public-Private Partnerships, boundary spanners and the boundary wall in the English National Health Service

Alexander, James Duncan (2022). Public-Private Partnerships, boundary spanners and the boundary wall in the English National Health Service. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

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Abstract

This thesis investigates English National Health Service (NHS) organisations partnering with private companies, a form commonly known as a Public-Private Partnership (PPP). It is clear that the hybrid nature of PPPs makes them more complicated and under researched than other types of partnership. This is compounded when NHS organisations are involved as due to their public values, political importance and sheer size, the NHS provides a particularly difficult set of challenges. To achieve partnership success in these circumstances, both structure and agent factors are crucial. Due to the alternative strands of literature that feed the examination of PPPs, they have generally been investigated in silos. To join them together, a framework called the ‘boundary wall’ was conceptualised that examined both partnership aspects at the same time by recognising the boundaries between organisations had implications for how boundary spanners (managers of the partnership) carry out their roles and activities.

This thesis makes an important original contribution to knowledge in three ways; conceptual, empirical and methodological. As there is no reason why the boundary wall framework is not applicable beyond PPPs, it could have the potential to improve the success rate of all partnerships. An exciting prospect.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Ph.D.

Supervisor(s):