Prospects for the National Health

The British National Health Service celebrated its thirtieth birthday in 1978. A Royal Commission was set up to consider the role of the National Health Service, and it is the debates that surrounded this Royal Commission that form the basis for the twelve topics covered by this book.

The economic difficulties that the country was facing when this book was published in 1979 highlighted the widely publicised malaise in the health service, and exposed the limitation of a set of ideals developed by the NHS in the years after the Second World War. These limitations, reflected in the economic recession of all industrial countries, presented a challenge and thus an opportunity to re-examine the nature and purpose of our health service.

Although this work offered no easy solutions, it did present significant implications for public debate and public appraisal of the prospects of the National Health Service, and greatly mirrors the debates that have been stirring in more recent years. This title will be of interest to students of sociology.

List of contents

Introduction;1. Inequality and the National Health Service 2. Health as Ideology3. Hospital-Centred Health Care: Policies and Politics in the National Health Service 4. The Production of Medical Practitioners5. The Failures of Health Education6. Health Costs of Life Style7. The National Health Service and its Relevance to Industrial Health and Safety8. Hidden Labour and the National Health Service 9. Practising Health Care: The Nurse Practitioner10. A Clinical Role for Pharmacists in the NHS11. Porters’ Problems, Doctors’ Dilemmas12. The Self-Help Way to Health;Bibliography;Notes on Contributors; Index

About the author

Atkinson, Paul; Dingwall, Robert; Murcott, Anne

Product details

• Authors: Paul (Cardiff University) Dingwall Atkinson
• Assisted by: Paul Atkinson (Editor), Robert Dingwall (Editor), Anne Murcott (Editor), Murcott Anne (Editor)
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd.
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 28.07.2015
• EAN: 9781138952409
• ISBN: 978-1-138-95240-9
• No. of pages: 218
• Series: Routledge Revivals
• Subjects: Guides > Health; Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Medicine > General; Sociology, HEALTH & FITNESS / Health Care Issues, MEDICAL / Health Care Delivery, Illness & addiction: social aspects, Health & personal development, Medical Sociology, Health, illness and addiction: social aspects, Health, Relationships and Personal development, Medical administration and management