Open AccessPlatform NHS: Reconfiguring a Public Service in the Age of Digital Capitalism
Author(s) -
Rachel Faulkner-Gurstein,
David Wyatt
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
science, technology and human values/science, technology, and human values
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.094
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1552-8251
pISSN - 0162-2439
DOI - 10.1177/01622439211055697
Subject(s) - financialization , context (archaeology) , capitalism , government (linguistics) , state (computer science) , public administration , function (biology) , service (business) , business , public relations , political science , marketing , finance , politics , paleontology , linguistics , philosophy , algorithm , evolutionary biology , computer science , law , biology
The platform is emerging as a key organizational form and operational logic of contemporary capitalism, intimately tied to financialization and assetization. However, discussions to date have focused on platforms and platformization in the context of the private, corporate, and technology sectors. In this paper, we develop an analysis of how platformization operates in the context of public policy. Using the UK’s National Health Service as a case study, we explore how platformization is altering the form and function of the state. The platformization of the NHS has its roots in the UK government’s strategic interest in the development of the bioeconomy. This led to the creation of a research infrastructure within the health service. Subsequently, the NHS has leveraged various assets into a range of data- and technology-focused initiatives. We argue that platformization has been a major form of neoliberalization within the NHS. The paper concludes with a discussion of what an analysis of public platformization can teach us about ongoing transformations of the state.