header-logo header-logo

Taking care in the public interest

01 November 2018 / Nicholas Dobson
Issue: 7815 / Categories: Features , Public
printer mail-detail

Accountable Care Organisations: a new model for the provision of health & social care? Nicholas Dobson reports

  • The proposals by the Secretary of State and the NHS for Accountable Care Organisations are lawful.
  • The policy development point has not yet been reached where the principles of transparency and clarity apply.

What are Accountable Care Organisations (ACOs) and why should public lawyers be interested? Perhaps because on 5 July 2018 Green J gave an important judgment on what he thought was ‘an issue of great public interest’. This was whether the Secretary of State and NHS England could lawfully introduce the ACO as a new model for the provision of health and social care.

A House of Commons Briefing Paper (issued 6 July 2018) indicated that an ACO is ‘an area-based model of healthcare provision, where a single body takes responsibility for the health needs of its entire population’. According to the paper, ACOs usually involve one or more providers collaborating to meet the needs of a defined area and taking responsibility

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Birketts—trainee cohort

Birketts—trainee cohort

Firm welcomes new cohort of 29 trainee solicitors for 2025

Keoghs—four appointments

Keoghs—four appointments

Four partner hires expand legal expertise in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Real estate team in Yorkshire welcomes new partner

NEWS
Robert Taylor of 360 Law Services warns in this week's NLJ that adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) risks entrenching disadvantage for SME law firms, unless tools are tailored to their needs
From oligarchs to cosmetic clinics, strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) target journalists, activists and ordinary citizens with intimidating legal tactics. Writing in NLJ this week, Sadie Whittam of Lancaster University explores the weaponisation of litigation to silence critics
Delays and dysfunction continue to mount in the county court, as revealed in a scathing Justice Committee report and under discussion this week by NLJ columnist Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School. Bulk claims—especially from private parking firms—are overwhelming the system, with 8,000 cases filed weekly
Writing in NLJ this week, Thomas Rothwell and Kavish Shah of Falcon Chambers unpack the surprise inclusion of a ban on upwards-only rent reviews in the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve charts the turbulent progress of the Employment Rights Bill through the House of Lords, in this week's NLJ
back-to-top-scroll