Regulating Medical Work

This book examines the formal and informal regulation of medical work in the British health service. It asks what regulation is for, what systems of rules control medical work and how they are used in practice. Following a general chapter which sets out the principles, theories and concepts associated with regulation, subsequent chapters examine in detail various regulatory forms. Two major issues are explored. First, the book looks at the boundaries between state-sanctioned self regulation and other regulatory systems. Second, it assesses the relationship between formal controls such as regulation and accreditation and informal controls through peer review and social networks.

The thesis of the book is that the web of formal and informal controls over medical work is expanding in a variety of ways. Increased controls are being exercised by government, by the profession itself and by lay people as patients, citizens and complainants. Furthermore, the NHS reforms have brought new managerial controls. In particular, doctors and managers have been encouraged to set standards to guide performance. As a consequence, the boundaries of control over medical knowledge are being redrawn and new alliances are developing between the stakeholders in health care: government, citizens, managers and professionals.

Regulating Medical Work is an accessible, up-to-date text for those working in the NHS, for students of health policy and public administration and for all social scientists interested in medical work. It draws on recent research and provides indicative examples and cases to illustrate points in the text.