Summary
Contents
Subject index
The Health Care Policy Process enables the reader to develop a clear understanding of the scope and objectives of health policy studies, to analyze the extent to which policies can be changed or influenced by those involved at the different stages of the policy process, and to assess both the need and the scope for change. The author considers the relationship between planning and policy, looks at key concepts in analyzing health care issues, and examines some of the debates overshadowing today's health policy agenda.
Professionalism and Bureaucracy
Professionalism and Bureaucracy
The foregoing discussion has contained several references to the medical profession, and the section dealing with structuralism referred to the clashes that occur between medical professional interests and those of the ‘corporate rationalisers’ – the health planners and administrators. These groups are the main contenders for power in the health system, that is, to the extent that actors internal to that system have power. Medical power rests on professional status; administrative power is seen to be related to the existence of large bureaucracies. In much literature which makes such assumptions without analysing them, the professionals are seen as the ‘good guys’ and the bureaucrats as the ‘bad guys’. Before sentence is passed, could there be a case for review of ...
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