NHS and Community Care Act 1990

The NHS and Community Care Act in 1990 split the role of health authorities and local authorities by changing their internal structure, so that local authority departments assess the needs of the local population and then purchase the necessary services from ‘providers’. To become 'providers' in the internal market, health organisations became NHS trusts, competing with each other. Community care ensures people in need of long-term care are now be able to live either in their own home, with adequate support, or in a residential home setting.