Guaranteeing healthcare - what does the healthcare guarantee discourse do?

Lars Nordgren

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

According to the Swedish Health and Medical Services Act, healthcare is to be provided to the population according to need and on equal terms. It must also be accessible - a part of healthcare that has been criticized. In an effort to improve accessibility, the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions and the government have both agreed to introduce a national care guarantee with effect from 01-11-2005. On 01-07-2010, the guarantee was incorporated into the Health and Medical Services Act. This article considers, using the ideas of Foucault (discursive formation), Butler and Callon (performativity), how the idea of a care guarantee came to be influential during the formulation of Sweden’s healthcare policies and on the management of services in hospitals. The concept of performativity is used to illustrate how the care guarantee becomes binding on the county council, as a promise to the patient.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)335-354
JournalFinancial Accountability & Management
Volumevol 28
Issue numberno 3
Publication statusPublished - 2012

Subject classification (UKÄ)

  • Social Sciences Interdisciplinary

Free keywords

  • care guarantee
  • discourse analysis
  • healthcare services
  • public management
  • performativity

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