There is currently a range of reforms being undertaken to the personal tax and benefits systems. Some of these changes were announced by the previous government, others introduced by the coalition. The key changes relating to health are: (a) Tax changes January 2011: Main VAT rate increased from 17.5% to …
The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council, will be abolished from 2012. Despite the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)’s pledge of continued support for libraries, with a focus front-line, essential services 1, reduced funding available to local government has resulted in 495 of the UK’s 4517 libraries being under …
The Health Visitor Improvement Plan 2011-2015 outlines plans to develop and expand the Health Visiting Service in England. It is proposed that Health Visitors (HVs) will provide four different levels (tiers) of service based on assessment of the needs of the child and family: Community Services (available to all families) …
New government policy states that child benefit will no longer be paid to families in which one or more members is a higher rate income tax payer. This is scheduled to start in January 2013. Child benefit is a tax free payment to people who look after children (normally to …
The National Healthy Schools Programme (NHSP) promotes the link between good health, behaviour and achievement through four key areas: healthy eating; physical activity; personal, social and health education (PSHE); and emotional health and well-being 1. The previous government set targets for the number of schools achieving National Healthy School Status, …
Cancer treatment has developed substantially in recent years, leading to improved outcomes and quality of life of life for patients. However, it has also led to increased cost and capacity pressures for the NHS. There is evidence to suggest that the UK lags behind the rest of Europe for access …
The government proposes to continue supporting the provision of needle exchange schemes to reduce harms associated with injecting drug use.1 In particular, young injecting drug users (IDUs) have been found to be at higher risk of acquiring HIV infection.2 Injecting drug use and HIV are also common in prisons.2 Evidence …
“Plain packaging” (also known as generic, standardised or homogenous packaging) means that all logos, graphics, and colours are removed from cigarette packs. Only the brand name of the tobacco company can remain – written in a simple, standard font which would be the same for all brands. The pack itself …
Health care systems around the world face the challenge of trying to continuously improve care quality. Market reforms, encouraging competition between providers such as hospitals, have been promoted as one way of achieving this. The Health and Social Care Bill, published in January 2011, sets out a comprehensive system for …
The Health and Social Care Bill sets out how groups of General Practitioners (GPs), known as commissioning consortia, will be given real budgets to commission care on behalf of patients in their local communities.1 Commissioning has been described as ‘the process of assessing the health needs of a population, then …