Social Care In The Uk S Four Nations

Two decades have passed since the devolution of social care policy, with key differences emerging between the UK’s four systems, but what impact have these differences had? This book presents for the first time research on the perspectives of social care policy makers on the four systems in which they operate and the ways in which they borrow from one another. Drawing on extensive interviews with national and local policy makers across the UK, the book raises vital questions about the role of ‘standardisation’ and ‘differentiation’ in social care, concluding that when given equal capacity to reform their respective systems, the regimes in each nation may take radically different shapes.

The devolution of social care policy has led to key differences emerging between the UK's four care systems. This book presents research on the perspectives of social care policy makers within the UK's four care systems, concluding that when given equal capacity to reform, the systems in each nation may take radically different shapes.

The devolution of social care policy has led to key differences emerging between the UK’s four care systems. This book presents research on the perspectives of social care policy makers within the UK’s four care systems, concluding that when given equal capacity to reform, the systems in each nation may take radically different shapes.

This report highlights key trends and variations in the delivery of healthcare across the four nations of the UK. Life expectancy varies significantly across the UK - from 75.9 in Scotland to 78.6 in England for men, and from 80.4 in Scotland to 82.6 in England for women. Spending on health services in the UK more than doubled in cash terms in the last decade. In 2010-11, despite devoting a higher proportion of total public spending to health, England spent the least on health per person. NHS staff has also increased over the last decade. Scotland has the most GPs per person (80 per 100,000 people in 2009 compared with 70 in England and 65 per 100,000 in both Wales and Northern Ireland). Scotland also has the most medical hospital staff and nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff per person. Comparable data on the efficiency and quality of healthcare are patchy. In 2008-09, average hospital lengths of stay varied from 4.3 days in England to 6.3 days in Wales. Hospital waiting times have fallen in all four nations in recent years, although there are notable variations in how long patients wait for common procedures. In 2009-10 waiting times tended to be lower in England and Wales. There have been significant improvements in levels of healthcare associated infections with rates of MRSA infection dropping by a third or more in all nations. The NAO considers that there would be value in the health departments in the four nations carrying out further work to investigate the variations in performance and identify how they can learn from each other

This book, the third in ippr's Devolution in Practice series, explores how devolution has changed the United Kingdom, identifying where policy is diverging and converging across the four nations, and the implications of this for the future of the Union.

This collection brings together leading and emerging scholars to evaluate the viability of four nations approaches to the history of the United Kingdom from the eighteenth to the twentieth century. It recognises the separate histories of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales and explores the extent to which they share a common, ‘British’ history. They are entwined, with the points at which they interweave and detach dependent upon the nature of our inquiry, where we locate our ‘core’ and our ‘periphery’, and the ‘cause’ and ‘effect’ of our subject. The collection demonstrates that four nations frameworks are relevant to a variety of topics and tests the limits of the methodology. The chapters illuminate the changing shape of modern British history writing, and provide fresh perspectives on subjects ranging from state governance, nationalism and Unionism, economics, cultural identities and social networking.