Social Policy in the UK: Development, Implementation, and Impact

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of social policy in the United Kingdom, examining its historical landmarks, contemporary developments, and impact on health and social care services. The report begins by outlining significant historical and contemporary landmarks in social policy, foll...Read More

Social Policy

TABLE OF CONTENTS
introduction....................................................................................................................................4
task 1................................................................................................................................................4
1.1 Outline significant historical and contemporary landmarks in social policy........................4
1.2 Explaining how the changes in ideological approach since 1945 have impacted on
contemporary social policies.......................................................................................................5
Task 2...............................................................................................................................................5
2.1 Analysing the procedures involved in the development of an Act of Parliament.................5
2.2 Evaluating different influences on the development of social policy including ideologies. .6
Task 3...............................................................................................................................................6
3.1 Analysing how social policy is implemented by organization and practitioners..................6
3.2 Explaining how the impacts of social policy on users of health and social care services can
be measured.................................................................................................................................7
3.3 Evaluating the impact of a specific policy on users of the relevant health and social care
service..........................................................................................................................................7
Task 4...............................................................................................................................................8
4.1 Evaluating a recent development in health and social care policy........................................8
4.2 Analysing the difference in formation and adaption of social policy initiatives from other
national perspectives....................................................................................................................8
conclusion........................................................................................................................................9
references.......................................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Social policy can be defined as a term which refers to guideline, principles, legislations
and activities that affect the living condition of the society and public in positive as well as
negative manner. The current research project is based on social policy and major aim of this
research to determine the origin of social policies and their impact of health and social care
services (Kay, 2007). Further it will also focus on many different factors that may influence
social policy of different health care organizations. Including this, key contemporary issues for
policy makers, welfare recipients, providers and stakeholders are also describing in the following
paragraphs of the report.
TASK 1
1.1 Outline significant historical and contemporary landmarks in social policy
Government of the UK introduces number of social policies which improve the health
and social care services of different organization of this industry. Some significant historical and
contemporary landmarks of social policies are described as under;
1. In the year 1906, government of KU has introduced Social Meal Act which has improved
health and social care services for school going students.
2. Old age pension act has been introduced by government in the year 1908 and all benefits
of this act offered to more than 70 age of person (Social policy, 2016).
3. Unemployment insurance act, 1920 is also historical development is social policies for all
non-manual workers.
4. Including this, National insurance act 1946, Social security act 1 and 2 in the year 1980,
Tax cuts and benefits cuts policy 1988, child benefit frozen 1989 and child support act
1991 are historical development in social policy of UK (British social policy, 1601-1948,
2016).
5. Along with this, in past policies makers have introduced some social policies regarding
different legislations such as Disability living payment substitute by flexibility grant and
attendance allowance, Jobseekers allowance for the unemployed people and Working
family’s tax credit, etc.
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Therefore, government of UK and other policy makers have introduced different social
policies relevant to children, older age people and unemployment people, etc. these policies
helps in development of society in effective manner (Fillerup, 2007).
1.2 Explaining how the changes in ideological approach since 1945 have impacted on
contemporary social policies
Lots of changes have been taken in the ideological approach since 1945 and it has direct
and indirect impact on current social policies. Majorly social policies have been introduced by
the UK government for disabled people such as mentally and physically disabled, unemployed
workers and older age people, etc. For developing welfare policies there are number of health
and social care programme have been started in the year 2008. Along with this, as per the
ideological approach government has introduced policy for evaluation of health and social care
policies (Greener, 2009). In the year 1945 regulatory authorities have introduced some important
legislations regarding employment which include National Insurance Act 1946, National Health
Services Act 1946 and National Assistance Act 1948. Therefore, all these changes in ideological
approach has increase the health care facilities for disabled, older age and unemployed people.
TASK 2
2.1 Analysing the procedures involved in the development of an Act of Parliament
Before developing act of Parliament the act must be approved by the parliament of the
United Kingdom. Debating and passing laws is one of the major role and responsibilities of
parliament. There are basically five types of legislations are considered by parliament and these
are Government bill, Private member's bill, Private bills, Hybrid bills and Statutory Instruments
(Kumar and et.al, 2011).
At first, government decides an issue or problem which emerges in the society and affect
the welfare of people. Afterwards, deciding ideas for addressing considered issues is another
stage of this process for developing an act of parliament. Afterwards, regulatory committee
consults about this issues with interested people and groups such and society leader and minister,
etc. Before developing any policy and act cabinet minister must agree about that which proposal
to take forwards and these proposal are made into bills (Eriksson, 2012). Afterwards parliament
considers all bills which have introduced by the government of UK and examines that bills with
respect to the social issues and society welfare. Subsequently, there are some specific parliament
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stages such as first reading, second reading, committee stage, report stage, third reading and
approval of bill by one chamber is considered by the other and approval of Queen which helps in
turning a bill into an Act.
2.2 Evaluating different influences on the development of social policy including ideologies
There are number of factors and independent bodies which can influence the
development of social policies of UK. These include Law Commission, European Legislation,
the media, pressure groups, lobbying groups, ideologies of governments, enquiries and civil
service, etc. In which Law Commission is known as a statutory independent body which have
introduced Law Commissions Act 1965 (Exter, 2008). And this act focuses on review of the
different laws which have developed by UK government for social development and major aim
of this act is to ensure that law must be fair, modern, simple and effective. So, law commission
have helped in developing effective social policies for whole society. There are number of
European Legislation which focuses on employment, technical progress, globalization and
development of older age population. At the time of developing social policies government of
UK needs to focus on all these legislations. Therefore, these also have positive influence on the
development of social policy. Society of UK includes those people who belong to different
ethnicity, religion, political philosophy and common goals. So, government of the UK needs to
respect their values and belief and consider the same in social policies also (Moran, 2005).
Overall pressure group may change the social policies as per the ethics, values and belief of
particular people. Therefore, all these influences have positive and negative impacts on social
policies of UK.
TASK 3
3.1 Analysing how social policy is implemented by organization and practitioners
Implementation of social policies in organization and practitioners play important role in
attaining effective outcomes in health and social care services. As per the policy of mental
health, organizations recruit therapists for treatment of mental health patients. It helps in
improving counseling facilities for patients which improves treatment process of the organization
(Problems of Policy Implementation, 2016). Along with this, for effective implementation of
policies health care institute needs to provide appropriate training to all social workers by which
they can provide effective care to their patients. As per the different social policies before
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starting practicing to patients children nurses and midwives are trained properly. Technologies
are changing day by day so, for handling these equipments organization provide appropriate
training session to health care practitioners. There are some specific policies have been
introduced regarding misuse of drugs and consumption of illegal drugs. For implementing this
policies in effective manner most of health care organizations provide support to children in
initial years of life. Therefore, all these decisions and actions help in implementing social
policies in health care organizations in effective manner (Daly, 2012).
3.2 Explaining how the impacts of social policy on users of health and social care services can be
measured
Generally social policies have been introduced by the government for improving health
and social care services of organization which leads improvement in overall health of service
users. So, impact of these policies can be measured by the different ways such as User’s
feedback, Cost effectiveness, Research, Statistics and Problem raised. Feedback of health and
social care service users can be obtained by the different methods such as questionnaire,
interview, etc. so, using these methods HSC organizations can analyse the impact of social
policies. Along with this, using the cost effectiveness method health and social care organization
can compare the relative cost of the social policy and its effect (Russell, 1979). In addition, deep
research on impact of social policies is also one of the major measurement because it helps in
determining aim of the social policy, its advantages and disadvantages on practitioners, service
users and organization itself. Statistics analysis such as number of patients before and after the
implementation of social policies, cost of the health care organization which have incurred at the
time of implementation, etc. Along with this, major problems which may arise at the time of
implementation are also important measures by which HSC organization can determine the
effective of social policies on whole society and organization (Morris, 2006).
3.3 Evaluating the impact of a specific policy on users of the relevant health and social care
service Integrated care policy: This policies has been introduced by the government of UK for
providing effective services to disables people. It helps in improving quality and
efficiency in services which have provided by health and social care works to disabled
children and people.
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 Prioritising mental health: As per this policies HSC organization needs to prioritize to
all those patients who have mental health issues. Along with this, for supporting this
policies UK government has provided £400 million to health care organizations in
between year 2011 and 2015 for improving health care services for mental health patients
(Strandberg, Eklund and Manthorpe, 2012). Prioritizing health of children: Improving services for children and pregnant ladies UK
government has introduced this policy. It has positive impacts on health care services for
women and babies. Reduction in misuse of drug: Under this policy, most of the HSC organization provides
appropriate support to all children in initial years. It reduce the chances of misuse of
drugs and illegal drugs during this time (Srivastava, 2007).
TASK 4
4.1 Evaluating a recent development in health and social care policy
From last 10 years lots of development have taken place in health and social care
policies. Recently, government has introduced new policies regarding elder age people which
helps in improving services in different health and social care organizations (Strandberg, Eklund
and Manthorpe, 2012). Along with this, some policies regarding misuse of drugs also improves
the practices of HSC and assure about the use of drugs with the prescription of doctors. Including
this, government of UK has developed policies regarding mental health patients and their needs
and requirements. It has reflected that HSC organizations needs to provide services on priority
basis. It improves their mental health conditions (Ham, 2009). Along with this, different other
social policies have been introduced for improving organizational policies of the organization
and providing appropriate training to all health care professionals.
4.2 Analysing the difference in formation and adaption of social policy initiatives from other
national perspectives
Various social policy initiatives are initiated at government basis so that they can be
implemented easily. After considering the concern of selection of various types of policies it is
very necessary to differentiate between formation and adaption of social policy. When policies
are formulated only few members takes part in the formulation. In order to develop a key act it is
very important for the officials to maintain and follow a proper structure (Collins, 2009). All the
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important involvement in policy making should be adopted by all the citizens in proper manner.
Many specific issues such as poverty, child labor, unemployment and abuse can be resolved by
taking various policy making decisions. Further it has a direct impact on lives of all the service
users as it effects the quality of life in both positive and negative way (Boylan, 2008).
CONCLUSION
The current research project has concluded that there are number of changes which have
taken place in the past and current social policies with respect to the health and social care
people. As per the report these policies play important role in changing the life of disabled
people, children, older age people and unemployed workers, etc. These policies needs to be
considered by all health and social care institutions at the time of providing services to patients
because these policies help in improving services which leads improvement in physical and
mental health of patients. Every policy has been developed by following appropriate procedures
and consideration with different acts and legislations.
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REFERENCES
Books and journals
Boylan, M., 2008. International Public Health Policy and Ethics. Springer Science &
Business Media.
Collins, S., 2009. Health and Safety: A Workbook for Social Care Workers. Jessica
Kingsley Publishers.
Daly, M., 2012. Making policy for care: experience in Europe and its implications in Asia.
International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy. 32(11/12). pp.623–635.
Eriksson, T., 2012. Healthy personnel policies. International Journal of Manpower. 33(3).
pp.233–245.
Exter, A., 2008. International Health Law: Solidarity and Justice in Health Care. Maklu.
Fillerup, M. S., 2007. Chronic Crisis: Critical Care for America's Collapsing Healthcare
System. Acacia Publishing.
Greener, I., 2009. Healthcare in the UK: Understanding Continuity and Change. The Policy
Press.
Ham, C., 2009. Health Policy in Britain Public Policy and Politics. Palgrave Macmillan.
Kay, J. M., 2007. Healthcare marketing: what is salient?. International Journal of
Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Marketing. 1(3). pp.247–263.
Kumar, S. and et.al., 2011. Examining quality and efficiency of the US healthcare system.
International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance. 24(5). pp.366–388.
Liamputtong, P., 2008. Doing Cross-Cultural Research: Ethical and Methodological
Perspectives. Springer Science & Business Media.
Moran, M., 2005. Governing the Health Care State: A Comparative Study of the United
Kingdom, the United States, and Germany. Manchester University Press.
Morris, Z. S., 2006. Policy Futures for UK Health. Radcliffe Publishing.
Russell, E., 1979. In the Best of Health: The Status and Future of Health Care in the UK .
Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. 47(1). Pp.77.
Srivastava, R., 2007. The Healthcare Professional's Guide to Clinical Cultural Competence.
Elsevier Health Sciences..
Strandberg, T., Eklund, J. and Manthorpe, J., 2012. Promoting empathy in social care for older
people. Working with Older People. 16(3) .pp.101 – 110.
Online
British social policy, 1601-1948. 2016. [Online]. Available through:
<http://www.spicker.uk/social-policy/history.htm>. [Accessed on 20th June 2016].
Problems of Policy Implementation, 2016. [Online]. Available through: <
http://www.healthknowledge.org.uk/public-health-textbook/medical-sociology-policy-
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economics/4c-equality-equity-policy/problems-policy-implementation>. [Accessed on
20th June 2016].
Social policy, 2016. [Online]. Available through: <
http://www.spicker.uk/social-policy/socpol.htm>. [Accessed on 20th June 2016].
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