Public involvement is a key theme within the post-reform NHS, with a growing emphasis on involving people in healthcare decision-making, improving accountability to the public and developing a stronger focus on the consumer or user of services. This challenging book establishes a framework for public involvement in healthcare. With a focus on purchasing, the authors draw on recent research understanding to describe the central factors 'driving' involvement and the organizational structures and processes by which it is underpinned. Current progress in respect of public involvement is assessed and recommendations made for the development of effective strategies. The discussion of current issues and debates is set within a wider theoretical and historical examination of the concepts of 'citizenship' and 'accountability', detailing the changing role of the 'consumer' in the context of the major developments in the organization and delivery of public services that have taken place in Britain in the last two decades.