Social Policy - Essay Example

Social Policy Social policy can be understood as the governmental policies that promote welfare and social protection. It can also be construed to connote the manner in which welfare develops in society. Moreover, it can be inferred as the academic study of this subject (Social Policy). Hence, social policy can be considered as a policy framed by the Government for the welfare of its citizens. A well designed public health policy is essential for engendering a healthy society. This was realised by many countries of the West, which commenced to attach considerable importance to public health policy. Specifically, it was understood that preventive measures could improve the health of the populace. In addition, the Health for all campaign launched by the World Health Organization in the year 1981, had a deep influence on the thinking of European countries (Birt, Gunning-Schepers, Hayes, & Joyce, 1997: 262). This was reflected in their public health policies. The National Health Service served to provide a uniform and integrated system of medical care to the denizens of the UK. Prior to the formation of this organisation, the health care system had been provided by the combined efforts of divers entities. Some of these providers of health care were voluntary and commercial organisations (Baggott, 1994: 76). Moreover, the health care system entails considerable expenditure, and this was satisfied to some extent by the philanthropic organisations and the insurance companies. A major role was enacted, in this commendable effort, by the voluntary organisations, which were actively engaged in making community health services available. These organisations worked in tandem with the local authorities, especially in the areas of maternity, child welfare, aftercare, nursing at the district level, and mental and physical impairment (Baggott, 1994: 76). The economic and societal security of the nation relates to the degree to which individuals or groups are provided with access to, permitted to utilise and the successful results obtained, with respect to a wide range of resources. Some of these resources could connote healthcare, employment, education, housing and finance. These factors have a major bearing on the inequities that exist in healthcare (Ward, Redgrave, & Read, 2006: 10). In addition, biological and environmental factors, nutrition and the standard of living contribute to health. Thus, health constitutes a function of welfare. It can be surmised that the issues that prove detrimental to health are in general the province of the welfare state. In fact, there are very few issues of this nature that are directly addressed by the health services (Health care). Health care, per se, can be considered as one of the principal responsibilities of the Government in a welfare state. The geographical influence, in the context of the welfare state in general and the provision of public health care in particular, has remained deeply entrenched. This has been forcefully portrayed on the societal stage, in the aftermath of the Second World War (Wincott, 2006: 169). Fundamentally, this constitutes a very strong influence on the provision of health care; and it demands in no uncertain terms that every citizen of the United Kingdom should be provided with the same level of public services. Furthermore, the underlying principle of this provision of public services is that such access should be determined by the requirements of the individual and not geographical location (Wincott, 2006: 169).This is truly exemplary and it ensures that no individual in the UK can be denied public services, including health services, merely on the grounds of being located in some remote area. In the UK, the NHS is seen by the majority, as the substratum of the welfare state. Easy access to healthcare has instilled the people with the notion that healthcare is a right. However, it is to be understood that there is no right on demand to healthcare. The cardinal rights enjoyed by the populace are the right to be registered with a general practitioner and to be subjected to a medical examination. Thus, at the request of a patient, a general patient is required to pay a medical visit to that person. All the same, such physicians are at liberty to examine the patient from a distance (Health care).As such, there does not exist any formal right to receive treatment, and it is up to the physician’s discretion to provide or withhold treatment. The factors, responsible for rendering health care as a major social policy of the U.K. Government have been discussed in the sequel. Health equity has been accorded the same degree of importance as health gain, and these constitute the chief goals of public health policy in the UK. It is the avowed aim of the Government to diminish disparities between social groups with dissimilar social positions and to improve the health of the general public (Graham & Kelly). This has a major effect on the development and continuation of the health care policy in the UK. In the UK, social policy, with regard to public health showed considerable improvement over time. The early 20th century proved to be a time of strife and suspicion amongst the European nations, which culminated in the Second World War. However, by this time, the National Health Insurance scheme was able to address the health care needs of the population to some extent (Baggott, 1994: 76). Specifically, 43% of the people were covered by this scheme, which enjoyed the support and participation of General Practitioners to the extent of 90%. This was a remarkable development, and was a pioneering effort regarding the intervention of the state in providing health care to the citizens of the UK (Baggott, 1994: 76). Nevertheless, this development had its shortcomings, in as much as this scheme was limited to the services provided by the General Practitioners. Moreover, this scheme did not encompass the services provided by specialist hospitals; and it was inapplicable to some categories of individuals, such as the unemployed and dependants like married women and children. Medical services for these categories attracted the payment of medical fees from the patient (Baggott, 1994: 76). As such, this scheme was not beneficial to all. Edwin Chadwick isolated poor health as the chief cause of indigence, in the 19th century. He advocated a policy of improving sanitation, rather than enhancing medical care. Paucity of nutrition and water supply has been identified as the principal cause of most diseases on this planet. In recognition of the fact that poverty was concomitant upon infirmity, the Poor Law authorities instituted a number of infirmaries to cater to the needs of the ailing (Health care).Poverty plays a significant role in poor sanitation, nutrition and contamination of water; which are in turn, have a far – reaching effect on the health of the people. As a measure to combat these infirmities and inequalities in health care, the people, Government and other interested entities soon realised that some form of systematic health care service was to be established in the UK. This proved to a major influencing factor, with respect to public health care policy in the U.K. As a further step of its commitment towards improving the healthcare service provided to the people, the UK Government established the NHS. The NHS constitutes a very expensive welfare benefit provided by the Government (Sun & Wang, 2007: 119). It is the stated objective of the Government to provide the best possible service to the people, through the NHS (Sun & Wang, 2007: 119). Given the intricacy of the task, the NHS and the Government have to coordinate their efforts, in order to provide better health care. Undoubtedly, socio-cultural, political, and technological factors are the structural drivers that bring about change in the NHS. They play an important role in the smooth functioning of the NHS, and have to be analysed, prior to establishing any successful strategy, in the NHS (Sun & Wang, 2007: 120).The NHS has a major effect on competitive forces, such as new entrants; substitutes; rivalry with the private sector; and the power of stakeholders, like buyers and suppliers. The fundamental objective of the Department of Health is to eliminate health inequalities. However, there are a number of factors that fall beyond the purview of the Department of Health. Therefore, it decided to reduce by at least 10%, the disparity between the social classes by the end of the year 2010 (Delamothe, 2008: 1278). As such, NHS was established with the aim of providing equal access to all citizens. There are various economic factors that influence the functioning of the NHS, which in turn have a profound effect on the public health care system. The growth of the economy has resulted in new opportunities and improvement in life style of the people. This has been accompanied by an increase in the life expectancy of the populace. Patients demand high quality treatment, entailing costly medicines. This has imposed an excessive burden on the NHS, which finds it very difficult to satisfy the demands of such patients (Sun & Wang, 2007: 120). Although the NHS is a public funded system, its services are controlled by many factors, including economic viability. Furthermore, unemployment is on the increase, and this causes an increase in the number of individuals seeking the services of the NHS, as they find it difficult to afford private medical treatment. The NHS cannot provide the required services, unless the funding is increased (Sun & Wang, 2007: 120). Thus, the change in economy has engendered new challenges for the NHS. As such, any successful health policy should be founded upon a proper evaluation of health needs. Moreover, there should be incontrovertible evidence that the proposed measures would prove to be beneficial to the people. However, it is essential to realise that any public health intervention should find acceptance with the members of society, should be credible from the political point of view, and should entail a democratic participation by all the concerned entities (Birt, Gunning-Schepers, Hayes, & Joyce, 1997: 262). Thus, there are a number of factors that have a major bearing on public health care policy in the UK. Some of these have engendered tremendous beneficial change, such as the formation of the NHS. Equal access to all, being the central objective of the health care policy, co-operation and co-ordination among all the stake holders in the health care system, is necessary to successfully succour the needy, and transform health care policy into a resounding success. List of References Baggott, R. (1994). Health and health care in Britain. Palgrave Macmillan. Birt, C. A., Gunning-Schepers, L., Hayes, A., & Joyce, L. (1997). How should public health policy be developed? A case study in European public health. Journal of Public Health Medicine, 19(3), 262 – 267. Delamothe, T. (2008). NHS at 60: Universality, equity, and quality of care. British Medical Journal, 336(7656), 1278 – 1281. Graham, H., & Kelly, M. P. (n.d.). Briefing Paper. Health inequalities: concepts, frameworks and policy. Retrieved August 21, 2010, from NHS Health Development Agency: http://dds-dispositivoglobal.ops.org.ar/curso/cursoport/Textos%20Completos/health%20inequalities_concepts,%20framework%20and%20policy.pdf Health care. (n.d.). Retrieved August 20, 2010, from An introduction to social policy: http://www2.rgu.ac.uk/publicpolicy/introduction/health.htm Social Policy. (n.d.). Retrieved August 20, 2010, from An introduction to Social Policy: http://www2.rgu.ac.uk/publicpolicy/introduction/socpolf.htm Sun, X., & Wang, H. (2007). A Study on the Healthcare Industry in the UK. International Journal of Business and Management, 2(3), 119 – 122. Ward, P., Redgrave, P., & Read, C. (2006). Operationalizing the Theory of Social Quality: Theoretical and Experiential Reflections from the Development and Implementation of a Public Health Programme in the UK. European Journal of Social Quality, 6(2), 9 – 18. Wincott, D. (2006). Social Policy and Social Citizenship: Britains Welfare States . The Journal of Federalism, 36(1), 169 – 188. Read More