Historical Evolution And The Socio -economic Perspectives Of National Health Service

In 1928, a national health insurance scheme was proposed but not implemented because it would have required businesses to provide contributions to health insurance for their employees (Evolution of Government Involvement in Health Care, n.d). Another national health insurance scheme was proposed in 1938 but it was also rejected (Evolution of Government Involvement in Health Care, n.d; Hilless & Healy, 2001). The next proposal was the 1945 Pharmaceuticals Benefits Act. This Act was not implemented because the Australian Medical Association challenged it in the High Court of Australia and it was decided that parliament had “exceeded its constitutional power” (Hilless & Healy, 2001). In 1946, under the Hospital Benefits Act, the Commonwealth began to subsidise public hospitals under the condition that patients would not be charged (Evolution of Government Involvement in Health Care, n.d; Hilless & Healy, 2001). This act is similar to the current Medicare system.

Before the National Health Service (NHS) came into force in 1948, there was the Poor Law which was introduced in 1601 and was paid for by imposing property taxes. In 1834 the Poor Law Amendment Act was brought in and was designed to reduce the cost of looking after the poor, and to encourage poor people to work. In 1942 Sir William Beveridge unveiled the Welfare Foundations, the plan offered care to all from birth through to death. The NHS was established as a result of the 1944 White Paper. The 1946 NHS Act came into effect on the 5th July 1948, and was founded by Health Secretary Aneurin Bevan. 1962 saw the publication of the Porritt Report, which raised concerns about the NHS being separated into three parts – hospitals, general practices and local health authorities. Enoch Powell’s 1962 Hospital Plan approves the development of district general

This assignment will be describing the structures of health and social care within the British Welfare state. This includes looking at the roles of different sectors, agencies, professions and the distinction between health and social care. It will then analyse the relationships between both health and social care and its wider historical, ideological and social context. Lastly, it will compare structures and contexts of health and social care within two nations of the United Kingdom.

In the early 1800s, both in Europe and in the United States, physicians with formal medical training began to stress the idea that germs and social conditions might cause and spread disease, especially in cities. Many municipalities created "dispensaries" that dispensed medicines to the poor and offered free physician services. Epidemics of cholera, diphtheria, tuberculosis, and yellow fever, and concerns about sanitation and hygiene, led many city governments to create departments of health. New advances in studying bacteria were put to practical use as "germ theory" became the accepted cause for illness. It was in the face of epidemics and poor sanitation, government-sponsored public health, and healthcare that private healthcare began to systematically diverge.

This essay will examine how the development of the Welfare State and the NHS changed the lives of the people of Britain since its introduction in 1948. To enable me to do so, I will analyse and evaluate the key relevant aspects that happened during that period.

This assignment will define and analyse the need for a chosen service improvement within the pathway of mental health, as well as evaluating the suggested service. Demonstrating how this service can inform and benefit integrated practice, discussing the ways in which the agency’s statutory obligations and responsibilities impact on both individual and group decision making. The chosen service improvement for this assignment is the introduction of a mental health nurse into primary care services, for example, a GP Surgery. Focusing on service users with mental health issues in the community and therefore in the care of the local Primary Care Trust (PCT).

Later, findings from a series of reports including report from Royal commission on National Health Insurance in 1926; The Sankey Commission on Voluntary Hospitals in 1937; and reports from British Medical Association (BMA) in 1930 and 1938, all collectively indicated that inadequacy existed in the pattern of the services (Christopher, 2004; Webster, 2002). Evident were reports of conflicting care and duplication of work between the municipal and voluntary hospitals (Wheeler & Grice, 2000). Additionally, world war had a huge impact on the health services and the conditions in which hospitals, theatres, radiology and pathology department operated was very poor. Thus, no machinery existed that supported running of a coordinated healthcare system, hence a need for unified, simplified and cohesive system was felt (Smith, 2007). Furthermore, Royal Commission’s report suggested that funding for the health services might benefit from general taxation rather than its basis on insurance principle (Christopher, 2004). However, it was not until the Beveridge report in 1942, which provided a huge drive and momentum for a movement of change in the health services. And within subsequent years seen were the proposals for NHS drawn through the White Paper in 1944, then in 1946 the National Health Service Act and at last in 1948 the establishment of the NHS

The United States has never had an official federal-centered approach for mental health care facilities, entrusting its responsibility to the states throughout the history. The earliest initiatives in this field took place in the 18th century, when Virginia built its first asylum and Pennsylvania Hospital reserved its basement to house individuals with mental disorders (Sundararaman, 2009). During the 19th century, other services were built, but their overall lack of quality was alarming. Even then, researchers and professionals in the mental health field attempted to implement the principles of the so-called public health, focusing on prevention and early intervention, but the funds were in the hands of the local governments, which prevented significant advances in this direction.

In this essay I will analyse the concepts of health, disability, illness and behaviour in relation to users of health and social care services. I will take a look into how perceptions of specific needs have changed of time. I will also include the impact of legislation, social policy society and culture on the ways that services are made available to individuals with specific needs. This will include me analysing the needs of individuals with specific needs, explain the current system for supporting individuals with specific needs. I will also evaluate the services available in a chosen locality for individuals with specific needs.

Healthcare industry in United States has been an important industry for a long time. It is one such industry that has representation from both public sector and private sector. The current health care system is segregated and fragmented in America. Some states have very effective and efficient healthcare system while some states lack the desired infrastructure. The evolution of healthcare system in USA can be traced back to 1750. The period from 1750 to 1849 is termed as preindustrial period where the care of sick people was primarily handled by families (Brian, 2010). The period of 1850 to 1969 is termed as postindustrial period which reflects the growth of organized medicine and systematic healthcare delivery.

One of the biggest contributors for poor healthcare is the stigma against mental health. This stigma allows healthcare providers to view those with a mental illness as having low relevance, thus creating disinclination towards providing adequate resources and/or care. This negative stance, based on misinformation and prejudice creates those that have a mental illness to lose their self confidence. Because of this loss, people with mental illness decide not to contribute to their health or livelihood. In the past fifty years, many advances have been made in mental healthcare. However, with the attached stigma, many people choose to not seek out treatment.

The lack of treatment for mental illnesses — due partly from the stigma with which it is associated with — comes with a number of public issues: economically,

The National Health System began in 1948 with the aim to provide free health care for the English thus removing health access inequities. This essay considers two strengths of the NHS, being free health and locally responsive health care and two weaknesses being the financial burden and unprecedented pressure on health care resources.

A strong case can be made for investing in mental health, whether to enhance individual and world wellbeing, improve life span, or even to enable people living with mental illnesses to have a better quality of life. Mental health problems account for a quarter of all ill health yet they receive less than 6% of all health research funding, people with these health conditions usually experience poor access to help services and lower quality care than those with physical health problems. Addressing mental and physical health needs together would be more cost effective for the NHS and would benefit the increasing numbers of people dealing with untreated mental illness.

Health services in Ireland developed in parallel with health services in Britain throughout the eighteenth, nineteenth and early twentieth centuries - during most of the latter period, the Irish service developed its own direction. Until the 1960’s the activities of psychiatric nurses in Ireland were based in hospitals. The Department of Health (1966) issued a report ‘The Commission of Inquiry on Mental Illness’ where it was recommended that mental hospitals should be seen as centres of rehabilitation, with their aims of returning clients to the community - instead of being seen or used as centres of custodial care and as a result, causing those using the services to be institutionalized and unable to return back into the community. While some of these changed were implemented and service users were discharged into the community, the nature of mental health nursing care did not really change until the mid 1980’s, where changes were made in the United Kingdom almost a decade earlier. (Morrisey et al, 2008).