Systematically updated throughout, the 6th edition of this leading text takes the story of health policy to the end of the Blair era and into the early years of the Brown premiership. It offers a clear and thorough introduction to the history of the NHS, its funding and priorities, and to the process of policy making.
The 1990 NHS and Community Care Act was the most radical upheaval of the NHS since its foundation and attracted world-wide attention A comprehensive review of the evidence is offered to assess the impact of the NHS reforms on health authority purchasing; local commissioning; GP fundholding; total purchasing, and NHS trusts.
In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.
An analysis of the transition from universal, publicly funded health care to New Labour's application of market principles, 'NHS plc' portrays a national institution reaching crisis point and serves as a key lesson for those concerned with health care.
Richard Titmuss was one of the 20th century's foremost social policy theorists. This accessible Reader is the first compendium of his work on public health, health promotion and health inequalities. Most of Titmuss's work has been out of print for many years. This volume, like its predecessor, Welfare and wellbeing (The Policy Press, 2001), is important in bringing the work of this highly influential thinker to the attention of a new generation of social policy students and policy makers. It also enhances current debates about how complex societies can best provide for the health of all their citizens.
The nhs is caught in a 'gridlock' of forces that make change ex- ceedingly difficult to bring about. Public policy should seek to cre- ate an environment for the nhs that is hospitable to quality- impro- ving and efficiency-improving change. Opportunities for constructive change should be nurtured, not politicized or otherwise abused. The nhs runs on the ability and dedication of the many people who work in it. But its structure contains no serious incentives to guide the nhs in the direction of better quality care and service at reduced cost. In fact, the strucutre of the nhs contains perverse incentives. The nhs could benefit from making much greater use of demonstration pro- jects.
The emphasis on primary care in health service development requires both academics and professionals involved in research to apply the highest standards in qualitative and quantitative methodology. This book provides accurate and up to date information in an easy to follow and clear way. Guidance is given on appropriate methods specialist advice and where to find it. All chapters include exercises to relate the reader's own experiences and review understanding. Primary Care Research series is aimed at developing the knowledge expertise and skills of all practitioners in primary care. Each book is based on contributions from experts in their field and is supported by practical facts personal insight support and advice. They enable all primary care practitioners to realise the potential of exploring information used in everyday working practice.
Events have spiralled since the first edition of How to Dismantle the NHS in 10 Easy Steps. The junior doctors' strike, the Conservative victory in the 2015 general election, the Corbyn phenomenon, the unexpected Brexit vote and the arguably even more unexpected loss of the Conservative majority in 2017. Further, since writing the first edition, Dr. Youssef El-Gingihy found himself stricken with a life-threatening illness and the NHS doctor became the NHS patient. The fight to save the NHS transformed into a fight for his own life. Now, fully recovered, Dr. Youssef El-Gingihy returns to his 10 Easy Steps in order to strengthen his original argument and continue what Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, deems 'one of the most fundamental battles we face in a struggle for a British society that works for the many'. In the year of the 70th anniversary of the NHS, Dr El-Gingihy's insights have never been more vital as our national health service continues to be hit by the privatisation of public services. New expanded second edition with chapters on junior doctor's strikes and plans for US-style healthcare.
This volume, developed by the Observatory together with OECD, provides an overall conceptual framework for understanding and applying strategies aimed at improving quality of care. Crucially, it summarizes available evidence on different quality strategies and provides recommendations for their implementation. This book is intended to help policy-makers to understand concepts of quality and to support them to evaluate single strategies and combinations of strategies.