This work analyzes the contribution made by the UKCC to the development of the nursing profession in this country since the 1970s. It details the key issues the council grappled with during this time and provides in-depth analyses of the complexity of these issues. There is a general consensus that the current view of nursing's regulatory body will culminate in a major shake up of the way the nursing profession is governed and in which the UKCC will be radically transformed. This publication of the history of the UKCC marks the close of a very significant period in nursing's history and the opening of wider debates about ensuring the safety of the public through regulation of health professionals. This is a significant text for all those who teach on professional and policy issues in nursing.

For years the NHS has been the most trusted of public institutions and the envy of many around the world. But today there is turmoil. Painful shortcomings in clinical care and patient experience, together with funding cuts, threaten to dig deep into service levels and standards. Seventy years of technically advanced medicine provided free to the population has produced a widespread perception of patients as passive consumers of health care. This book explores how we may renew for our times the collective compact that created our public services in the 1940s. Voices from service users and service providers show how this can be done. They offer testimony of what goes wrong and what can be put right when working together becomes the norm. Sections explore new ways of living and working with long-term conditions, more meaningful and effective approaches to service redesign, use of information technology, leadership, co-production and creating and accounting for quality. Accessible to a wide range of readers, with short, accessible contributions, this is a book to provoke and inspire.

Involving citizens in policy decision-making processes - deliberative democracy - has been a central goal of the Labour government since it came to power in 1997. But what happens when members of the public are drawn into unfamiliar debate, with unfamiliar others, in the unfamiliar world of policy making at national level? This book sets out to understand the contribution that citizens can realistically be expected to make. Drawing on the lessons from an ethnographic study of a public involvement initiative in the health service - the Citizens Council of NICE (National Institute for Clinical Excellence) - the book explores the practical realities behind the much-quoted faith in 'deliberation' that underpins so many models of public involvement and presents the analysis of sixty four hours of video and audiotape capturing a warts-and-all picture of deliberation in action. It sets deliberative participatory initiatives within a broad inter-disciplinary context and challenges politicians, policy-makers and academics to develop more realistic approaches to democratic innovation. "Citizens at the centre" will be of interest to academics and students in social policy, sociology, politics, health, social care, economics, and public administration and management. It will also be valuable to anyone involved in the policy making process, not only in the UK, but also in Europe, the USA and other countries where deliberative democracy is being implemented or discussed.

`This is an ambitious book attemping to be relevant to a wide range of professionals in the health and welfare fields and to move from the macro policy context for change to the micro concerns of individual professional client relationships... There is much that will be of use and/or interest to both practitioners and researchers alike' - Social Policy Designed to lay sound foundations for continuing professional development in a world of rapid change, this Reader draws together key articles exploring the recent challenges facing professionals across the spectrum of health and social care. Topics examined include: accountability to service users, funders and communities; the skills needed for teamwork and collaboration; and ethical dilemmas of working in conditions of resource constraint, and engaging in questions of quality and performance review. The chapters reflect the similarities and differences between the NHS and social services. This a set book for the Open University course K302 Critical Practice in Health and Social Care.

This wide-ranging text on research methods in health and social care introduces readers to different kinds of evidence and helps them to evaluate the unique contributions of each. It acknowledges the variety of contexts in which practitioners work and the challenges of putting research into practice. The book introduces readers to research of different kinds - the randomised controlled trial, the survey, qualitative research and action research - and highlights the underlying logic and value of each. It also addresses economic appraisal, and ethical issues in research. The text goes on to consider how there can be a much more active and dynamic interplay between practice and research, and using examples from health and social care shows that applying evidence is a complex process requiring the active participation of those on the receiving end. Those who seek to develop and improve their practice will welcome this approach to evidence-based health. The text supports evidence-based practice but seeks to ensure that the interpretations and uses of it are broad, thoughtful and informed. As such, Using Evidence in Health and Social Care will be an essential text for research methods courses in health, social work and nursing. It is a textbook for the Open University course K302 Critical Practice in Health and Social Care.