Publications

There is wide variation in health outcomes even between countries at similar levels of economic development. Murray and Frenk wrote an evidence briefing on this topic for the World Health Organization in 2000 (1,2). That briefing discussed the several frameworks that existed then for measurement of health system performance and proposed a number of improvements…

The purpose of this paper is to examine the welfare participation of immigrant groups in the UK, which has experienced a large growth in its immigrant flows and population levels in recent years, especially following EU enlargement in 2004. The analysis particularly focuses on the types of benefits that immigrants tend to claim, as well…

The importance of the early years is well understood within the Welsh Government. Since 2003 work has been underway to develop effective interventions in this area, such as the Flying Start programme. However, the question of what works best and is most effective remains important. Events such as this that bring colleagues from the policy,…

Over recent decades there has been an international shift towards multi-level governance. Against this backdrop, many comparative welfare studies take government policy outputs as the starting point for their analysis. However, the associated pluralization of electoral systems in unitary states means that welfare choices are no longer exclusively informed by single state-wide ballots. Accordingly, this…

Drawing on perspectives from the governmentality literature and the sociology of risk, this article explores the strategies, tools and mechanisms for managing risk in acute hospital trusts in the United Kingdom. The article uses qualitative material from an ethnographic study of four acute hospital trusts undertaken between 2008 and 2010 focusing on the provision of…

This chapter describes the Wales Health Impact Assessment Support Unit (WHIASU) and the evolution of HIA in the context of Wales as a devolved nation with its particular approach to public health. The character of WHIASU can only properly be understood in terms of its history and the wider social, policy, and political context of…

This report examines Annual Population Survey (APS) data containing new questions on Subjective Wellbeing (SWB). It focuses on comparisons between variations in SWB across countries of the UK and areas within Wales, as well as how SWB varies by demographic sub-groups within Wales. In particular, it identifies groups of individuals and areas within Wales where…

This paper examines the impact of devolution on social welfare for older people and the associated administration of age equality. Analysis of policy discourse, rights and stakeholders’ views reveals divergent practice in the constituent nations of the UK. In normative terms this is shown to present a tension between universal welfare rights and entitlements –…

This paper explores the concept of safeguarding children being ‘everybody’s business’ as it is experienced in one neighbourhood in south Wales, UK. Safeguarding is defined here as the protection of children and the enhancement of their well-being. A qualitative case study design engaged residents of all ages, community sector workers and statutory sector workers in…

Excess alcohol consumption has serious adverse effects on health and violence-related harm. In the UK around 37% of men and 29% of women drink to excess and 20% and 13% report binge drinking. The potential impact on population health from a reduction in consumption is considerable. One proposed method to reduce consumption is to reduce…