Revealing the British coalition government's plans, this examination demonstrates how a small "policy community" inside and outside the department of health have schemed for 10 years to replace the National Health Service (NHS) with a U.S.-style health care market without informing parliament or the public. While ex-ministers, officials, and the like profit from lucrative positions in private health companies, the population must cope with the increasing health care costs and the diminishing quality of care. With accounts from NHS patients and doctors, the key strategies of implementation are uncovered and the companies involved--their lobby, their businesses, their fortunes, and, in some cases, their crimes--exposed.

Events have spiralled since the first edition of How to Dismantle the NHS in 10 Easy Steps. The junior doctors' strike, the Conservative victory in the 2015 general election, the Corbyn phenomenon, the unexpected Brexit vote and the arguably even more unexpected loss of the Conservative majority in 2017. Further, since writing the first edition, Dr. Youssef El-Gingihy found himself stricken with a life-threatening illness and the NHS doctor became the NHS patient. The fight to save the NHS transformed into a fight for his own life. Now, fully recovered, Dr. Youssef El-Gingihy returns to his 10 Easy Steps in order to strengthen his original argument and continue what Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, deems 'one of the most fundamental battles we face in a struggle for a British society that works for the many'. In the year of the 70th anniversary of the NHS, Dr El-Gingihy's insights have never been more vital as our national health service continues to be hit by the privatisation of public services. New expanded second edition with chapters on junior doctor's strikes and plans for US-style healthcare.

This book provides an in-depth analysis of the NHS reforms ushered in by UK Coalition Government under the 2012 Health and Social Care Act, arguably the most extensive reforms ever introduced in the NHS. Contributions from leading researchers from the UK, the US and New Zealand examine the reforms in the contexts of national health policy, commissioning and service provision, governance and others. Collectively, the chapters presents a broader assessment of the trajectory of health reforms in the context of marketisation, the rise of health consumerism and the revelation of medical scandals. This is essential reading for those studying the NHS, those who work in it, and those who seek to gain a better understanding of this key public service.

Marketization in the healthcare sector affects the quality and delivery of care, as well as healthcare workers’ working conditions. Based on a comparison of England and Germany, along with an in-depth case study looking at New York, USA, this volume examines how trade unions respond to marketization processes and the determinants of successful strategies. The author draws on a rich empirical study to develop a theoretical framework that accounts for sector-specific opportunity structures stemming from marketization processes and on the relevant unions’ local-level leeway that opens if they build up and mobilise the available resources and capacities. The book identifies determinants of successful trade union strategies, explains the puzzling observation of similar strategic choices across different systems, and draws conclusions for prospects of trade unionism in the marketized healthcare sector. This book emphasizes the transformative effect of marketization on healthcare and the opportunities this change creates for unions, while giving special attention to the local-level conditions of trade unionism in the analysis of conflicts evolving around marketization in the hospital sector. It is of interest to academics and practitioners working in healthcare management, human resource management, and employment relations.

An engaging, inclusive history of the NHS, from its surprising survival over the decades to today's crises

The National Health Service remains the sacred cow of British politics – any criticism is considered beyond the pale, guaranteed to trigger angry responses and accusations of bad faith. This book argues that the NHS should not be insulated from reasoned debate. In terms of health outcomes, it is one of the worst systems in the developed world, well behind those of other high-income countries. The NHS does achieve universal access to healthcare, but so do the health systems in every other developed country (with the exception of the US). Britain is far from being the only country where access to healthcare does not depend on an individual’s ability to pay. Author Kristian Niemietz draws on a wealth of international evidence to develop a vision for a universal healthcare system based on consumer sovereignty, freedom of choice, competition and pluralism. His roadmap for reform charts a path from the status quo to a more desirable and effective alternative.

The National Health Service, or NHS, is the United Kingdom’s national healthcare system. It oversees the public’s health and ensures the medical wellbeing of the population of the UK. Governance network processes are complex because of the different nature of agendas and strategies of actors involved in health, but increasingly, because of the link between social and healthcare delivery, recent initiatives to provide a joined up or integrated approach have been presented. However, the extent of joined-up governance processes in the National Health Service is rather uneven. So far, reforms to try to improve the running of the NHS through the introduction of market mechanisms or increased decentralization have only served to exacerbate such tensions and resulted in further fragmentation of the public health system. The NHS and Contemporary Health Challenges From a Multilevel Perspective illustrates the complexities of governing public health services that are part of the NHS and takes an innovative approach by examining public health provision through a multiscalar lens, which reveals significant limits of the current governance model. The book raises the various challenges that clinical staff, public authorities, and the general public face in the provision of healthcare to uphold core values inherent in health systems. While highlighting topics including health governance, patient satisfaction, and public health, this book is ideally designed for policymakers, government officials, healthcare administrators, hospital managers, healthcare researchers, medical professionals, and students.