2019 Past Paper Homework Questions

1a i) NHS Scotland will want to hire and retain more GP’s than what they currently have at the moment. This is due to the increasing amount of GP’s leaving their job and the fact that many GP practices are unable to accept new patients onto their register due to being at maximum capacity.
NHS Scotland will want to provide the public with a high quality of free healthcare in order to maintain the nations health.
NHS Scotland will want to increase its patient capacity in order to treat as many people as possible.

ii) The NHS Scotland is owned by the government, whereas PLC’s are owned by shareholders. NHS Scotland is controlled by the Scottish Parliament whereas PLC’s are controlled by Board of Directors.

1b) Purchasing through the NHS supply chain allows the NHS to purchase directly from approved suppliers. This ensures that any supplies purchased are of high quality and safe for use. It is also cost effective as it allows the NHS to take advantage of economies of scale through bulk orders.

1c) One benefit of outsourcing is that it allows the business to focus on its core activities. This means that the core activities focused on by the organisation can be improved.
One cost of outsourcing is that there may be communicative/control issues with what activities the private firm is carrying out. This may mean confidentiality could be breached.
Another benefit of outsourcing is that the outsourcing itself can only be used when required. This allows the organisation to save money as they aren’t paying for the service when not necessary.
Another cost of outsourcing is that the private firm could increase the pricing of their services. This could lead to various cash flow issues within the organisation.

1d i) Hierarchical structures allow for more opportunities for promotion, whereas flat structures have fewer. Hierarchical structures have many layers of management, whereas flat structures have fewer.

ii) Grouping NHS Scotland into regional boards allows for more focus on issues pertaining to a certain area. It also means that any issues can be easier to identify due to different boards making different decisions.