Health policy in Britain / Christopher Ham.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 331-346) and index.

Introduction -- The structure of the analysis -- 1. The Development of Health Services and Health Policy -- The origins of hospitals and medicine -- Public health Services -- Mothers and young children -- Health insurance -- Hospital services -- The establishment of the National Health Service -- The structure of the National Health Service -- The NHS between 1948 and 1974 -- The reorganisation of the NHS -- The reorganised National Health Service -- Conclusion -- 2. Health Policy under Thatcher and Major -- Increasing NHS efficiency -- Making the NHS businesslike -- Dealing with the funding crisis -- Working for Patients -- The reform of primary care and community care -- Implementing the reforms -- The Impact of the reforms -- Streamlining the structure -- Conclusion -- 3. Health Policy under Blair and Brown -- The inheritance -- The New NHS -- The new structure -- Implementation -- The comprehensive Spending review -- The NHS Plan -- Shifting the Balance of Power -- Delivering the NHS Plan -- A return to the market? -- The NHS Improvement Plan -- The health reform programme -- Gordon Brown and the NHS Next Stage Review -- The impact of the reforms -- Conclusion -- 4. Financing Health Services and the Rediscovery of Public Health -- The growth of NHS expenditure -- The Wanless review of the long-term funding needs of the NHS -- Raising and spending money in the NHS -- Public health and health improvement -- What has been achieved? -- Conclusion -- 5. Policy and Priorities in the NHS -- The context -- Access and standards -- Primary care -- Pharmacy and dentistry -- Acute hospital services -- Cancer -- Heart disease and stroke -- Mental health -- Learning disabilities -- Older people -- Children's services and maternity care -- Health and social care integration -- Priority-setting -- Conclusion -- 6. Policy-making in Westminster and Whitehall -- What is policy? -- British central government -- Parliament -- The Prime Minister and Cabinet -- Ministers, civil servants and special advisers -- Relationships between departments -- Outside interests -- Pluralism or corporatism? -- Conclusion -- 7. Policy-making in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland -- Differences before devolution -- Differences after devolution: 1999-2003 -- Devolution after 2004 -- Comparing performance -- An assessment -- Regional government in England -- The European Union -- Conclusion -- 8. Policy-making in the Department of Health -- The Department of Health -- The policy community -- Pressure groups -- Parliament and the mass media -- NHS bodies -- The Consultative machinery -- Ministers and civil servants -- Special advisers and the core executive -- Industrial and commercial interests -- The role of ideas -- Changes in the Department -- Conclusion -- 9. Implementing Health Policy -- The organisation of the NHS -- The regional tier and strategic health authorities -- NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts -- Primary care trusts -- Arm's-length bodies -- The role of the DH -- Professional influences on policy implementation -- Policy-making in NHS bodies -- The NHS today -- Conclusion -- 10. Auditing and Evaluating Health Policy and the NHS -- The context -- Performance indicators and performance ratings -- The audit explosion and the rise of the regulators -- Evaluation by independent organisations and government -- Health improvement -- Access to health care -- Conclusion -- 11. Power in Health Services -- Pluralist theories -- Structuralist approaches -- Marxist theories -- Concepts of health -- Power, interests and ideology -- Theories and practices -- Conclusion -- 12. Looking Back and Looking Ahead -- How good is the NHS? -- The organisation and management of the NHS -- Hierarchies, markets and networks -- The role of politicians -- The future demand for health care -- Increasing efficiency in the NHS -- Priority-setting or rationing -- Political futures -- Conclusion -- 13. Reflections on the Reform of the NHS: 11 Lessons for Policy-makers -- Taking stock -- Moving forward.

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