This volume provides a new and innovative overview of the key debates relating to public health policy in the UK at a time when concern over public health has never been greater. Mounting public disquiet over a range of crises, such as foot and mouth, BSE and other food safety issues, public transport, pollution, obesity and the environment have fuelled this renewed interest. Yet, health policy remains preoccupied with health-care services.

In this book, David Hunter explains that, while they are important, health-care services are not the principal determinants of health. Why then, do they absorb the bulk of resources and attention of policy-makers? The reasons for the extraordinary difficulties encountered in putting health before health care are multiple and complex. Separate chapters cover a range of issues, including: the relationship between health and health care, health-care management and the powerful interests at work which prevent policy aspiration from becoming reality, attempts in the UK since 1992 to pay greater attention to health issues, and examples from Europe and Canada, where a similar policy imbalance exists. In conclusion, Hunter sets out the policy implications for the future and offers a way forward based on the concept of managing for health.

The approach throughout the book is accessible and user-friendly. It will be essential reading for students of public policy, health studies, social policy and sociology, and will also be invaluable to scholars, policy-makers, and health professionals interested in public health policy in the UK.

About the Author
David Hunter is a Professor of Health Policy and Management at the School for Health, University of Durham.

Reviews
"Hunter provides a map of the recent history of public health and its link to health policy. His analysis of the twentieth-century public health profession and its weaknesses leads him to suggest new solutions for management and public health which shift the focus to health. This book makes an important contribution to the debate on raising the profile of health as an outcome of health policy. I can recommend it to all those interested in health management, policy or pubic health as a thoughtful analysis and a provocative challenge."

Sian Griffiths, University of Oxford

"Thoughtful, analytic and tough minded. David Hunter's feeling for what makes health policy tick has been successfully applied to public health. Recommended reading for everyone interested in making health policy work for the better."

Geof Rayner, Chairman of the UK Public Health Association

Book Information
ISBN 9780745626475
Author David Hunter
Format Paperback
Page Count 224
Imprint Polity Press
Publisher John Wiley and Sons Ltd
Weight(grams) 336g
Dimensions(mm) 231mm * 155mm * 18mm