There have long been calls to stop labelling children as having special needs. Department of Education figures released in 2012 show that 19.8% of pupils in England have special educational needs, of which 2.8% have statements of SEN. And yet school inspectors Ofsted suggest that the term SEN is used far too widely and that […]
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Cost of living blog – NHS 111 – Improving efficiency or destroying the ‘brand’?
In a recent post we talked about the push for patients to take responsibility for their health and their use of healthcare services, working in partnership with healthcare professionals to ensure that they receive good quality care. As I discovered this weekend, however, that it is almost impossible to do this if you find yourself in […]
Cost of Living Blog – Taking Responsibility for our Health
Last week the chairman of NICE, David Haslam called for patients to stop being deferential to doctors and be more proactive in ensuring that they receive the best healthcare available. He argues that, patients should be more aware of the range of drugs available and be willing to assert their right to the best drugs available on […]
Cost of Living Blog – A Dickensian Seasonal Message from the Cost of Living
The Cost of Living blog is proud to have an international readership but the majority of our content does focus on events in the UK. Here it has been a tough year. Politics in general, and specifically the politics of health and healthcare, is lurching to the right. And this looks to be a worrying […]
Cost of Living Blog – Obamacare, Individualism v Solidarity, and the NHS
The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) came into force in the USA in June 2012 to regulate health insurance and curtail some of the worst practices engaged in by the for profit health care industry. The aim was to make affordable health care available to more Americans. This included establishing minimum standards for health insurance, and […]
The Mouth and Social Sciences Blog – The mouth as a visual symbol of inequality
We know the statistics, those in poverty are more likely to experience tooth decay, gum disease, tooth loss and discoloured, crowded or misaligned teeth. They are also less likely to engage in preventative behaviours either in the home or involving accessing dental care. When care is accessed it is more likely to be symptomatic care […]
Cost of Living Blog – The Inter-generational blame game
Older people are costing us money. They are using disproportionately more of the NHS, social care and welfare budgets, and expenditure on prescription drugs is significantly higher for the over 65s than their younger peers. Older people are costing the NHS up to £4.6 million a day by falling over and it’s not just ageing itself that […]
Cost of Living Blog – From victims to heroes to scroungers: changes in the public perception of disabled people
Disability and disabled people have regularly featured in the media over the past few months. Radio 4 is currently running a series exploring disability across history, we have had extensive coverage of the Oscar Pistorius court case in South Africa and disabled people feature in many of the scare stories about the NHS that are circulating. […]
Cost of Living Blog – BLACK APRIL – There IS an alternative
Right wing politicians throughout Europe and beyond are working desperately hard to establish a new, shared and ‘objective’ fact – that the collective benefits of social care, community welfare, freely-accessible education and equitable healthcare are no longer affordable in the context of the modern state. George Osborne’s recent explanation and defence of the coalition ‘reforms’ […]
Cost of Living Blog – A case for ‘action sociology’
Five of us studied sociology at university while the sixth only demurred because her early artistic talent shone brightly. We think and act as one across a range of social and political domains. Moreover we share the view that ‘doing sociology’ makes no sense unless this is oriented to, and produces outcomes for, those ‘publics’ […]