The Committee's report examines the use of healthcare charges within the NHS for certain treatments (such as prescriptions, dentistry and optical services) and non-clinical services (such as car parking fees and charges for television and telephone use), including the level of charges, categories of exemption, and whether the charging system is sufficiently transparent to users. It also considers whether such charges have a place within an NHS which claims to be free at the point of use, or whether these charges should be abolished and the necessary resources raised through alternative charging systems. International research indicates that health charges have a negative effect on health, particularly on patients with long-term illnesses. The report finds that the system of health charges in England is a mess and lacks any comprehensible underlying principles, developed largely through ad hoc responses to the need to raise money. The system of exemptions to charging is also full of anomalies, particularly in relation to prescription charges, and has not been updated since 1968 despite improvements in medical science. The Committee makes 22 conclusions and recommendations to improve the system, including the need for more research in England on public attitudes to health, on the effects of charges on patient health and the use of health services, and on the costs and benefits of alternative charging systems. The report recommends that a number of short-term changes be made immediately, including alterations to the prescription pre-payment certificate (PPC) to improve take-up levels, a review of new dental charges, free parking for patients who have to attend out-patient clinics on a daily basis and reduced rates for those who must attend hospital regularly.

This document sets out the Government's response to the Committee's report (HCP 815-I, session 2005-06; ISBN 0215029844) into the use of healthcare charges within the NHS for certain treatments (such as prescriptions, dentistry and optical services) and non-clinical services (such as car parking fees and charges for television and telephone use), including the level of charges, categories of exemption, and whether the charging system is sufficiently transparent to users.

As statutes and regulations increasingly inhibit the rights of private landowners, the restrictive covenant has subtly emerged as one of the few remaining tools of property control available to the freeholder of land. This new edition discusses recent case law and its far-reaching effects on the jurisdiction of the Lands Tribunal, the modification or discharge of covenants and the compensation required It also incorporates rent charge covenants and other use obligations, and the problems of consent and breach Detailed chapters are included on procedure in Lands Tribunal applications

This pathbreaking book investigates welfare state change in the area of health care- a field widely neglected by comparative welfare state research. While some work on health care expenditure exists, health care rights have not been systematically studied since social rights have exclusively focused on entitlement to cash benefits. Addressing this research gap, Böhm analyses in what way the social right to health care has been modified in the course of general welfare state transformation since the late 1970s. Taking England and Germany as examples, she assesses how health care reforms conducted under the conditions of constrained budgets, demographic ageing, and rapid medical progress, have altered access to and generosity of public health care systems over the past 35 years. The book’s findings significantly increase our understanding of social rights and reveals fundamental differences of approach: while Germany provides absolute and enforceable rights to health care for each (entitled) individual, English social health care rights are directed towards the population as a whole and contingent upon the availability of resources, i.e. they are not absolute and not enforceable. This distinction between individual and collective social rights will be an important contribution to the theory of social rights given its applicability to other types of social rights and its usefulness in tracing changes in social rights over time.

The previous editions of Torts were highly regarded for their clarity of explanation and engaging writing style, and this new fourth edition fully retains each of these qualities. The text has been extensively revised and updated, and there is a new chapter on privacy. The enhanced layout includes end of chapter summaries and self-test exercises and an extensive bibliography. This is therefore an ideal companion to the subject for both law undergraduates and GDL/CPE students.

Shows how Attlee, middle-class and Oxford-educated, became a committed socialist while a young social worker in London's East End and his rise as Deputy Minister during Churchill's wartime coalition and Prime Minister during Labour's creation of the welfare state from 1945-1951.

The Compendium of Insurance Law consolidates diverse insurance law sources, statutes and codes of practice in one comprehensive volume. Each piece of legislation is supplemented by detailed annotations, which explain the operation and relationship of the legislation with other sources of insurance law. The book is filled with comprehensive coverage of legislation relating to the following areas: regulation, reinsurance, life assurance, property insurance, marine insurance, liability insurance, motor insurance, insurance intermediaries, insurance contracts and competition.