The impact of market oriented reforms on choice and information: a case study of cataract surgery in outer London and Stockholm

In the early 1990s, a set of market-oriented reforms was introduced into health care systems of the UK and Sweden, two exemplary cases of reliance on planned budgeting and integrated provision of services. In the pursuit of increased efficiency, several County Councils in Sweden have followed the public competition model, while in the UK internal market reforms were introduced. It was expected that the separation of functions of planners and purchasers from those of providers, which were to be freely chosen by the former, would achieve higher allocative efficiency but also enhance usersʹ satisfaction with care.