Devolution or centralization? Differences in the development of nurse education commissioning policy among the UK nations.

Abstract

An overview of the different systems for the commissioning of nurse education in the various UK countries is contextualized in the policy concerns of development and marketization driven by Government Working Papers 9 and 10. The different systems for commissioning nurse education in the various UK countries are described, with a particular focus on the English consortia system and its level of efficiency. It is argued that while the mechanism of consortia is being used to marketize nurse education commissioning in England, in the other three nations the commissioning process has actually become more centralized. This centralization is contrary to the policy of development, yet it is suggested here that the consortia mechanism adopted in England has not been followed in the other UK nations, as it has not yet proved an independently efficient method of commissioning.