Health affects every aspect of life, hence it is not surprising that health care is a major focus for social concern. Governments have been aware of the importance of the population's access to health care for a very long time and began to intervene in this sense even before the 1900's, by helping the poor. However, the true first step in the state's intervention in health care occurred after the end of the second Boer War, in 1911, with the Health Insurance Act. It was a first step, but some important problems in the functioning of the system, as for example the difficulties of the middle classes to access to care, made changes necessary. Among the first part of the twentieth century, some others steps had been taken towards the building of a National Health Service (N.H.S.). In this, the Beveridge report of 1942 has been particularly important.
[...] Stacey The Sociology of the National Health Service, Sociological Review Monograph, Keele University Press pp116-117 quoted in: Julian Le Grand, The Strategy Of Equality, Redistribution and the Social Service , Ch.3: “Health London, George Alle and Unwin Julian Le Grand, The Strategy Of Equality, Redistribution and the Social Services, Ch.3: “Health London, George Alle and Unwin Julian Le Grand, The Strategy Of Equality, Redistribution and the Social Services, Ch.3: “Health London, George Alle and Unwin Figure p “Mortality by social class. Relative Mortality: ratio of rates for the social class to the rate for all males (females). SMR standardised mortality ration”. Source: Black (1980, p.32). Julian Le Grand, The Strategy Of Equality, Redistribution and the Social Services, Ch.3: “Health London, George Alle and Unwin Margaret Whitehead, The Health Divide, the Penguin group, London, N. Y., Victoria p.243 Sir D. Black, Prof. J. N. Morris, Dr C. Smith, Prof. P. Townsend, The Black Report, Ed. [...]
[...] In this consideration, governments took measures to improve the allocation of health care in the country. We can look at that in studying the two main funding streams separately: Hospital and Community Health Services (H.C.H.S.), and Family Health Service (F.H.S.). Concerning the H.C.H.S, the most significant block of the N.H.S. expenditure is made available to regional authorities. The Resource Allocation Working Party (R.A.W.P.), in 1976, recommended that financial allocation for regional health authorities should be based on population estimates that had been adjusted to take account of local variations in needs. [...]
[...] Their actions were not important enough and the central objective of N.H.S to provide an equal health care for all has still not been fulfilled. There are a lot of new measures that the governments could take to tackle inequalities in health care, as suggest the book by M. Benzeval, K. Judge, and M. Whitehead[23].They suggest different measures that the governments could take, both at the national and local score. Concerning the national action, they refer to the formulation of health policy with specific reference to inequalities and a commitment to take action on them, and a multisectoral action, with the development of mechanisms for setting up equity-orientated policy across government departments[24]. [...]
[...] Whitehead, Tackling Inequalities in Health, King's Fund, London CH.7: role of the N.H.S.” by M. Benzeval, K. Judge, M. Whitehead, p.97. (Ed.) M. Benzeval, K. Judge, M. Whitehead, Tackling Inequalities in Health, King's Fund, London CH.7: role of the N.H.S.” by M. Benzeval, K. Judge, M. Whitehead, p.99. (Ed.) M. Benzeval, K. Judge, M. Whitehead, Tackling Inequalities in Health, King's Fund, London CH.7: role of the N.H.S.” by M. Benzeval, K. Judge, M. Whitehead, p.100. (Ed.) M. Benzeval, K. Judge, M. [...]
[...] concerning the fulfillment of its commitment to equal care for all. Have they succeeded in that? If not, what else could be done to reduce the inequalities in health care? These reflections concerning the lack of equality in health care had led the government? to take measures to try to improve the situation. The attempts of reforms of the N.H.S. have been spread throughout time and have had several objectives. Their results have been unequal. It would be too long to quote every attempt of improvement of the N.H.S. [...]
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