efore the UCS, the public health-care system in Thailand was highly
centralized and strongly bureaucratic, with organizational and
management structures divided into central and provincial administrations.
As most health-care facilities were owned by the MOPH, the MOPH had
leading roles in both health-care financing and service provision, and it had
responsibility for overall health system governance. Private hospitals were licensed
and re-licensed by the MOPH, but public and private health professionals were,
as required by law, regulated by their respective professional councils.
The UCS design called for radically different governance, organizational and
management arrangements that included new institutions, new relationships
and new ways of working. The policy intention was to ensure transparency,
responsiveness and accountability by involving a wider range of agencies and
stakeholders in decision-making processes