Health Policy In Britain
Assessment specification
You will write an essay of 4,000 words (excluding coversheet, references and appendices, but including tables/figures) on a policy area or topic of contemporary relevance to health policy in Britain. You are free to choose the policy area for discussion. However, you should: • focus on a fairly specific area, since attempting to cover a broad area is likely to result in a superficial analysis of the issues; • analyse the current policy context and significance of the chosen policy area, as well as its historical development; • identify and evaluate the key policies and policy processes relating to the area; • identify and evaluate the roles of key actors and stakeholders in relation to the policy area; • draw effectively and appropriately on relevant literature, evidence and theory; • explore future issues and challenges in relation to the policy area, and present relevant policy recommendations and conclusions; • adopt an analytical and critical approach to the issues throughout. Examples of suitable policy areas might include: • the changing role and influence of the medical or nursing profession; • the development of health professional regulation; • the evolving role of a healthcare-related organisation (such as NHS England or the Care Quality Commission) in developing and implementing health policy; • the role and influence of the media (or social media) in shaping a particular area of health policy; • the financing/commissioning of healthcare; • choice and competition within the NHS; • integrated or person-centred care (e.g. the integration of health and social care).
Please pay careful attention to how you present your work, e.g.: • Present your work clearly. • State the title of the assignment clearly at the beginning. • Structure your assignments using appropriate headings and sub-headings. • Use Harvard referencing correctly and consistently (see, for example, Cite them right). • All references used in the text must be included in the reference list, and vice versa. • Avoid paragraphs that are very long or very short. • Use bulleted/numbered lists sparingly. • Use a sans-serif font (e.g. Arial, Verdana, Calibri) with a font size of 12. • Use single line spacing, leaving a blank line between paragraphs. Please do not indent paragraphs. • Include a page number at the bottom of each page.