Primary care trusts are currently responsible for managing around 80 per cent of the NHS budget. Since their launch, PCTs have often been subject to considerable criticism, culminating in the Government’s proposal to abolish PCTs in April 2013.
This paper sets out a more considered assessment of the performance of PCTs since their establishment. It examines how effective they have been, as assessed against what they have been asked to deliver. It also examines how their role has changed, as both provider and commissioner, since they were initially established.