The Quality, Improvement, Productivity, and Prevention (QIPP) programme in the English National Health Service

This chapter focuses on the importance of the QIPP productivity programme, and the techniques underpinning implementation. It offers a historical analysis of the various phases of QIPP. The chronology indicates that QIPP was originally developed in 2009 under a Labour government following the 2008 global financial crisis. QIPP involved three streams of activity: pay restraint and reduced administration costs; lower national tariffs and increased productivity; and system redesign. We note the involvement of external management consultants brought in to advise government. The chapter reviews existing commentaries on QIPP; however, we note that the nature and effects of QIPP have been badly under-researched, despite its major importance. Think tank-based commentaries suggest QIPP relied on crude cost compression, with little evidence of the productivity-enhancing service transformation initially hoped for. The chapter ends by introducing subsequent chapters that explore the career of QIPP in our case-study sites.