GROUNDS FOR DISCRIMINATION - ESTABLISHING CRITERIA FOR EVALUATING HEALTH-SERVICES

The creation of a competitive market far primary healthcare within the NHS has implications for both patients and General Practitioners. The purpose of this article is to investigate the criteria that patients will use to discriminate between alternative healthcare offerings. In order to do this the research examines the way in which patients evalu ate their present healthcare provision as a basis for understanding fu ture expectations. The results demonstrate six strategies for healthca re evaluation and three distinct groups of patients likely to adopt pa rticular strategies.