Public Health Policy
1. Edition August 2003
224 Pages, Softcover
Wiley & Sons Ltd
This volume provides a new and innovative overview of the key
debates relating to public health policy in the UK at a time when
concern over public health has never been greater. Mounting public
disquiet over a range of crises, such as foot and mouth, BSE and
other food safety issues, public transport, pollution, obesity and
the environment have fuelled this renewed interest. Yet, health
policy remains preoccupied with health-care services.
In this book, David Hunter explains that, while they are
important, health-care services are not the principal determinants
of health. Why then, do they absorb the bulk of resources and
attention of policy-makers? The reasons for the extraordinary
difficulties encountered in putting health before health care are
multiple and complex. Separate chapters cover a range of issues,
including: the relationship between health and health care,
health-care management and the powerful interests at work which
prevent policy aspiration from becoming reality, attempts in the UK
since 1992 to pay greater attention to health issues, and examples
from Europe and Canada, where a similar policy imbalance exists. In
conclusion, Hunter sets out the policy implications for the future
and offers a way forward based on the concept of managing for
health.
The approach throughout the book is accessible and
user-friendly. It will be essential reading for students of public
policy, health studies, social policy and sociology, and will also
be invaluable to scholars, policy-makers, and health professionals
interested in public health policy in the UK.
Preface.
Acknowledgements.
1. Introduction And Approach:.
Some 'Simple Truths' About Health Systems.
Policy Dilemmas And 'Wicked Issues'.
The Politics Of Health Policy.
The Depoliticisation Of Health Policy.
Plan Of Book.
2. The Relationship Between Health And Health Care:.
Introduction.
Defining Health.
The Emergence Of The New Public Health.
Barriers To Progress.
Some Lessons From Lalonde.
The Post-Lalonde Era.
The UK Experience.
Conclusion.
3. Managing Medicine:.
Introduction.
Managing For What?.
The New Rationalism And Health.
The Rise Of Managerialism In Health Policy.
Managing Doctors.
Criticisms Of New Public Management.
Implications For Health Policy.
Last Word: Medicine, Management And Health.
4. Managing For Health:.
Introduction.
What Is Public Health?.
The Evolution Of The Public Health Function.
Public Health: A Specialty Or An Arena?.
A Response To Implementation Failure.
Approaches To Joined-Up Policy And Practice.
Conclusion.
5. Health Policy In A Devolved Polity Within Europe:.
Introduction.
The Impact Of Devolution.
The Impact Of Europe.
Conclusion.
6. Moving Out Of The Ghetto:.
Introduction.
That Is To Be Done?.
Towards Implementing A Policy For Health.
Managerial Capacity Building.
Last Word.
References.
Index
its link to health policy. His analysis of the twentieth-century
public health profession and its weaknesses leads him to suggest
new solutions for management and public health which shift the
focus to health. This book makes an important contribution to the
debate on raising the profile of health as an outcome of health
policy. I can recommend it to all those interested in health
management, policy or pubic health as a thoughtful analysis and a
provocative challenge."
Sian Griffiths, University of Oxford
"Thoughtful, analytic and tough minded. David Hunter's
feeling for what makes health policy tick has been successfully
applied to public health. Recommended reading for everyone
interested in making health policy work for the better."
Geof Rayner, Chairman of the UK Public Health
Association