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CO‐OPTATION, COMMODIFICATION AND THE MEDICAL MODEL: GOVERNING UK MEDICINE SINCE 1991
Author(s) -
HARRISON STEPHEN
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
public administration
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.313
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1467-9299
pISSN - 0033-3298
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9299.2008.01752.x
Subject(s) - commodification , autonomy , dominance (genetics) , corporate governance , health care , sociology , political science , public relations , law and economics , law , economics , market economy , management , biochemistry , chemistry , gene
Self‐regulation and autonomy are traditionally treated as distinctive elements of how professions are governed in contrast to other occupations. For medicine, these elements provide a collective medium of governance (through the institutions of professional self‐regulation) and an individual medium (through the practice of 'clinical autonomy'). Both are reinforced by the intellectual dominance of the so‐called 'biomedical model' of health and illness. Analysts generally agree that, in many countries, both self‐regulation and clinical autonomy are under significant challenge. But it is less obvious that, in the UK at least, the biomedical model has effectively been co‐opted for managerial purposes to support the commodification of medical care. Thus ideas that have traditionally been considered as supporting medical dominance have transpired to be a source of weakness for the profession.