The NAO sought to assess whether LIFT has proved to be successful so far through attempting to answer four "high-level" questions. These were:
1. Will LIFT contribute to the better long-term delivery of local health services?
2. Does the LIFT structure include appropriate governance arrangements, incentives and accountability?
3. Have LIFTCos sufficient public and private skills and capacity to deliver and operate their programmes?
4. Will LIFT deliver the expected benefits in a way conducive to value for money?
These questions were together used to answer a general question: is LIFT a suitable vehicle to support improved primary and community care services that meet local needs while improving value for money? (page 36). However, the report is not structured around the four questions, but around the NAO's "Dinner Party" approach (page 36), the aim of which is "to produce crisp, interesting report conclusions that can each be stated in 10-15 seconds."
The conclusions that the NAO reached through this process were (page 36):
- The National LIFT programme appears an attractive way of securing improvements in Primary and Community Care.
- The local LIFT models appear to be an effective mechanism clearly demonstrating value for money; however, local management frameworks could be strengthened.