A central problem in designing effective models of provider governance in health systems has been to ensure an appropriate balance between the concerns of public sector and/or government decision-makers, on the one hand, and of non-governmental health services actors in civil society and private life, on the other. In tax-funded European health systems up to the 1980s, the state and other publi...

background there is limited evidence on the course of health service costs before and after psychiatric inpatient treatment, which might also be affected by source of cost data. thus, this study examines: i) differences in health care costs before and after psychiatric inpatient treatment, ii) whether these differences vary by source of cost-data (self-report vs. administrative), and iii) predi...

this commentary on the editorial ‘the politics and analytics of health policy’ by professor calum paton focuses on two issues. first, it points to the unclear links between ideas, ideology, values, and discourse and policy, and warns that discourse is often a poor guide to enacted policy. second, it suggests that realism, particularly ‘programme theory’ are useful tools for health policy analys...

martin powell suggests that the death of the english national health service (nhs) has been announced so many times we are at risk of not noticing should it actually happen. he is right. if we ‘cry wolf’ too many times, we risk losing sight of what is important about the nhs and why.

conclusions the quality gap in the services provided by maternity units showed that these units are not able to meet pregnant women’s expectations completely. the negative quality gaps can be used as a guideline to improve the maternal health care quality and reduce maternal mortality, particularly in high-risk women such as those living in rural areas. results there was a negative gap in all d...

background recent british national health service (nhs) reforms, in response to austerity and alleged ‘health tourism,’ could impose additional barriers to healthcare access for non-european economic area (eea) migrants. this study explores policy reform challenges and implications, using excerpts from the perspectives of non-eea migrants and health advocates in london.   methods a qualitative ...