The quest for quality in the NHS

Sample

W. J. M. Mackenzie

Professor Mackenzie's book is an important contribution, possibly unique to the general debate, for despite the author's diffidence in describing it as 'primarily a conceptual and analytical study rather than a practical one', by discussing certain key questions from the point of view of a political scientist, he illuminates as never before the contradictions and mythologies of an institution which has a special niche in British social history and in which there is an almost inordinate pride among the population at large.

Sample

Dina Balabanova, Martin McKee and Anne Mills

Reviews the progress in five countries towards the goals set out in `Good health and low cost' - London : Rockefeller Foundation, 1985 ; and what happened to others viewed as successes 25 years ago -- [foreword, ix].

Sample

Gerard M. La Forgia, Bernard F. Couttolenc

"Drawing on an eclectic array of research and evaluative studies selected from a mix of sources. Hospital Performance in Brazil: The Search for Excellence analyzes Brazilian hospital performance along several policy dimensions, including resource allocation and use, payment mechanisms, organizational and governmental arrangements, management practices, and regulation and quality." "Although a few Brazilian hospitals are world-class centers of excellence, many hospitals, including those who serve Brazil's poorest people, are low performers. Yet the Brazilian hospital system is both dynamic and pluralistic, and herein lies it strength. As is shown throughout the book, the foundations for change - approaches, ideas, innovations, and initiatives for addressing the shortcomings of underperforming facilities - are already present throughout the country's hospital system. Building on these strengths, the authors propose a policy - and practice-based hospital reform agenda that should assist policy makers and practitioners in their "search for excellence.""--book jacket.

Sample

Michael Purdy and David Banks

Health and Exclusion is an examination of those policies and practices of exclusion currently experienced by health 'customers' in the UK. The authors challenge whether New Labour policies sufficiently address the inequalities in the system.