Quasi-backsourcing in the Public Sector - The Challenge of Withdrawing from an Intertwined and Long-standing Relationship

The aim of this study is to map the process involved in terminating a long-standing business relationship in a public context. It employed an exploratory study to interview 35 politicians, senior- and middle managers, ambulance- and dispatch centre staff and representatives of a regional alliance of patients. Growing criticism from a county council towards a contractor ended in a decision to bring services back in-house. However, terminating the contract failed and instead a state of quasi-backsourcing emerged. Only parts of the services were taken back in-house, with few reported benefits. The study suggests that caution is needed in relation to backsourcing services from a closely intertwined contractor.