Healthcare, Devolution and Inequality

This book examines the impact of devolution in the context of healthcare in England, Wales and Scotland. The authors argue that devolution of many facets of healthcare delivery and structure has produced unjustifiable inequalities that have not been properly addresses within the normative frameworks. Devolved healthcare systems within the UK are evolving almost unnoticed in the context for commitments made by the Westminster Government to equal treatment for all and an end to "postcode" healthcare, and this apparent inconsistency in terms of political policy has seldom been the subject of comment. The authors analyse the growing differences in the structure of the NHS healthcare system in England, Wales and Scotland and consider whether any discrepancies are justifiable in the wide context of the philosophy of healthcare and the Human Rights Act. The book draws conclusions on the nature of the inequalities that are generated by permitting increasingly devolved healthcare systems to exist within the UK.