AbstractThe English NHS is currently organised around a split between the ‘commissioning’ and the ‘providing’ of health care. There has been considerable critical comment about commissioning, focusing upon perceived inadequacies of the regulatory structure and a perceived lack of competence of the managers concerned. In this paper, we use empirical data from two detailed studies of commissioning to propose a third explanation of the difficulties that have been observed in making commissioning work. We apply Scott's institutional analysis to the issue, arguing that far from reflecting managerial incompetence, some of the difficulties experienced are inherent in the normative and cultural/cognitive pillars of the NHS institution, so that there is a lack of ‘fit’ between commissioning and the institutional characteristics of the NHS. We conclude by exploring the potential impact of the latest round of NHS changes on this institution.

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The study expands the understanding of sensemaking in organisations in two important ways. Firstly, it moves beyond discourse to explore the ways in which behaviours can enact sense. Secondly, it explores the distinction between active and unconscious sensemaking.

From 2012/13 it is planned that GPs will be taking more responsibility for commissioning in the English NHS. This research suggests that managers of the new commissioning organizations will require a deep and contextualized understanding of the NHS and that it is important that organizational processes do not inhibit managerial behaviour. Legitimacy may be an issue in contexts were managers are automatically transferred from their existing appointments.