Abstract:
In the traditional sense, governments have predominantly funded
social sectors. But in the face of limited financial resources and other
constraints, governments have found it easier to formulate policies rather
than to implement them. Thus the private sector has begun to play an
increasingly important role both in the financing and in the provision of
social services. However, neither sector can be relied upon completely to
deliver comprehensive results independently. It seems apparent, therefore, that
a public private mix of financing and provision will be the most sensible
approach to achieve economic efficiency and equity in the provision of social
services. Governance structures and degrees of progress towards governance
goals vary widely and appear to be systematically related to the organisation,
composition, location, and activity of each partnership.
This paper highlights how a successful partnership can be evolved in
the presence of synergy between partners; strong leadership; shared objectives;
success in coalition building; appropriate change in governance structure; a
proper legal framework; and building in of safeguards and outside patronage.
It examines successful interventions of the public private partnership in the
health sector between a private medical college in Abbottabad and a public
hospital in Mansehra, both within the province of NWFP, Pakistan. This
paper has seven sections: An overview; The Partners; The Process of Building a
Partnership; The Model of the Partnership; Workings of the Partnership;
Evaluation of the Partnership and finally, some conclusions.
