This annotated indexed anthology deals with doctor-patient interactions as portrayed in novels short stories and plays especially where these are unsatisfactory. This book is unique among medical anthologies in that readers can look up medical topics as they appear in fiction. It analyses sources of conflict such as the fee the doctor's perceived l
The new NHS is a very different organisation to the one set up 60 years ago. Two decades of reforms have introduced a market element, unprecedented transparency, patient choice, new incentives, devolved accountabilities and a host of new regulatory bodies. All these changes have made governance a crucial and contested issue in health care. Governing the New NHS makes sense of the new systems and will enable anyone interested in healthcare governance to navigate their way confidently through the maze. It describes, assesses and critiques the new governance arrangements. It examines how they are working in practice and how practitioners are responding. The book: explains current governance arrangements and explores related issues and tensions discusses the roles and interrelationships of boards and effective board practice offers a range of practical tools and frameworks. Each chapter is supplemented with expert witness statement written by leading practitioners in the health system. This practical book will be invaluable to all those interested in health governance, policy and management - whether academic, student or practitioner.
This second edition reviews recent reforms and the likely impact of future developments in management and competition in the NHS. In particular, it reflects the growing importance of primary care and the continuing debates about health care rationing. It concentrates on the realities and how they can be interpreted to help strategists, managers, clinicians, students and those supplying the NHS understand the mechanism of efficient health care delivery.
This edited collection--written by the movers and shakers in the industry--provides a "big picture" look at the rapidly changing health care environment. The book explores the important issues affecting the move to a managed care such as measuring and monitoring quality, mergers, the physician-patient relations, , and reconfiguring the work force.
The Government's NHS reforms pave the way for more competition and a more locally managed health service. They also take place at a time when the NHS in England is faced with saving an estimated £15 to £20 billion by 2015. Achieving savings of this level will require a radical overhaul of how services are designed and delivered. Critical to this is creating the right incentives for the NHS to develop, in ways that promote creativity and innovation.
Focusing on the White Paper, Working for Patients (1989) and the NHS reforms, this work analyzes the politics and structure of the NHS and other systems, and theoretical alternatives and health economics. The book outlines the key features of the NHS and the primarily financial problems which created the political controversy in the 1980s. It then discusses the evolution of policy up to the present day and analyzes rival ideas as to how to run the NHS.
An in-depth analysis of the NHS reforms ushered in by UK Coalition Government under the 2012 Health and Social Care Act. Essential reading for those studying the NHS, those who work in it, and those who seek to gain a better understanding of this key public service.
First published in 1999, this eclectic collection of papers examines quality management in health care from a variety of standpoints. Managers, health care professionals and patients all have valid – but often differing – perspectives on the nature of quality, its creation and maintenance. This book explores these perspectives, beginning by asking such fundamental questions as ‘Is health care a business?’, ‘How should health services be designed?’ and ‘What is quality of care?’. Subsequent chapters then address the practicalities of measuring and improving health care quality. The chequered history of clinical audit is exposed in the UK (essentially the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle familiar to quality improvement specialists), and lessons are drawn for managerial action needed to increase the impact of such activities. These lessons have wider relevance to all involved in promoting the principles of continuous quality improvement (CQI). In addition, exploration of the growing role of performance indicators raises important issues about their meaningfulness and instrumentality in effecting real change. Improving clinical quality is now at the top of the agenda for many health systems. This book reviews the challenges faced and the tools available to meet them. It should prove valuable to a wide range of health care stakeholders interested in broadening their understanding of this rapidly developing field.