Premium
SCIENTIFIC‐BUREAUCRATIC MEDICINE AND UK HEALTH POLICY 1
Author(s) -
Harrison Stephen,
Wood Bruce
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
review of policy research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.832
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1541-1338
pISSN - 1541-132X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1541-1338.2000.tb00955.x
Subject(s) - parallels , bureaucracy , agency (philosophy) , public administration , health care , political science , health policy , service (business) , public relations , sociology , economics , law , social science , politics , economy , operations management
One prominent method for controlling health costs is to find measures for the management of demand. Various options exist for this; and many of them have been tried during the fifty years of the UK's National Health Service. Current policy now focuses on what may be called “scientific‐bureaucratic medicine.” This policy is based on the assumptions that valid medical knowledge is derived from accumulated research evidence and that such knowledge should be implemented through clinical guidelines which are enforced to some extent. This UK development has parallels with the US Agency for Health Care Policy and Research whose experience, therefore, raises some policy issues for the UK.