Assignment 1- Personal and Professional Development Current knowledge My current knowledge includes contemporary health care issues a few of these are- Fluoride in primary school- this is a local issue where fluoride is being put into primary school children’s milk, this is being introduced in the hope that it reduces tooth decay in young children. It is shown that 41% of 5 years in Blackpool have tooth decay; some parents are worried of the long term effects of drinking fluoride. Although this scheme can be opted out of. An ageing population- this is due to the NHS originally being set up to treat people with diseases. Many of these diseases would have resulted in death 65 years ago but have since been found to have cures, this is brilliant but this means people are living longer and usually living with one or more illness/ long-term complex conditions such as diabetes, heart and kidney diseases. This means that in turn more on-going treatment and specialist care is needed. The change in public expectations- The main job for the NHS when it was originally set up was to tackle diseases but now so much more is expected, from advice, contraception, antenatal and maternity services to name a few. All of this is part of a growing population due to higher birth rates, lower infant mortality and living longer and putting strain on the NHS. Accident and Emergency departments- Many more people are visiting A&E departments and minor injury units, this is stretching the departments.
“The most successful nations in the future will be those which develop high quality, skilled and motivated workforces and make good use of them.” Government White Paper (1994)
The important of continually improving knowledge and practice is that you can ensure that you are aware of any new relevant legislation and also you can improve the service that you provide. It also gives you the opportunity to reflect on what you are good at as well as what you are not so good at, so that you can see what areas you can improve in.
The National Health System began in 1948 with the aim to provide free health care for the English thus removing health access inequities. This essay considers two strengths of the NHS, being free health and locally responsive health care and two weaknesses being the financial burden and unprecedented pressure on health care resources.
The purpose of this unit is to assess the learner’s knowledge, understanding and skills required to promote the professional duty to maintain the currency of knowledge and skills and the need to continually reflect on and improve practice.
The National health services (NHS) provides a comprehensive healthcare services across the entire nation. It is considered to be UK’s proudest institution, and is envied by many other countries because of its free of cost health delivery to its population. Nevertheless, it is often seen as a ‘political football’ as it affects all of us in some way and hence everyone carry an opinion about it (Cass, 2006). Factors such as government policies, funding, number of service users, taxation etc all make up small parts of this large complex organisation. Therefore, any imbalances within one sector can pose a substantial risk on the overall NHS (Wheeler & Grice, 2000). This essay will discuss whether the NHS aim of reducing the nations need
It has been widely accepted that rationing of the National Health Service (NHS) is paramount to maintaining and balancing public resources. In a utopian world it would be possible to provide every patient with every medical treatment that they would require, however this is not possible and therefore rationing has to be applied by local health authorities. Simply, there are not enough resources and medical staff available to keep up with the ever evolving demands of the public, and once more, these medical resources can’t at times tend to the needs of the medical advancements made every day. Some equipment and medicines are extremely costly and the NHS struggles to balance public budgets in the face of such advancements. One survey of a primary care trust in the NHS found that the panel that made that decision about funding new treatments was faced with applications that would have
There are four main areas of political debate surrounding the reform of the NHS today
In 1974 reform of the NHS seen eliminated the involvement of local authorities in health, set up community health councils, introduced area health authorities and changed the management of family doctor services (JISC 2015). The conservative Government reforms of the NHS bought much controversy, supporters claimed the reforms brought increased efficiency and effectiveness, but opponents said they undermined the founding principles of the health service (BBC 1999). However the spending cost of the NHS was a concern, with an ageing population and increase of new advance technology, experts said that the NHS needed above inflation increases of at least 1% a year simply to stand still (BBC 1999). The government, inspired by the Griffiths Report (1983), blamed disorganised management and structures within the NHS for the cash problems (BBC 1999). The National Health Service and Community Act of 1990 was the future explanation (BBC
Reflective practice can be used by workers to enhance their performance and practice at work.
The field of family therapy, particularly the approach of systemic family therapy, is popular not only in the United States but also all across Europe. While this course was designed for future family therapists in the U.S., this paper tries to identify characteristics and differences of the profession’s European counterpart. Several noteworthy differences in degree and educational requirements were identified as well as the professional associations which are responsible for practitioners in Germany and Europe in general. However, it is important to state that the main principles of both the American and European family therapy profession are similar, if not identical, which illustrates the interconnectedness of professionals across the world. Consequently, the purpose of this paper is to identify ways of developing a professional identity and promoting professional development throughout and beyond graduate studies in the field of family therapy.
Lifestyle choices such as smoking, drinking alcohol, poor diet and lack of physical exercise have many diseases associated with them. In 2006-07, patients with these diseases cost the NHS a combined total of £18.4bn (Scarborough et al. 2011). If the NHS limited treatment to these groups of people, it would be able to invest this money into other areas of need. This could lead to improved facilities for people who become ill through no fault of their own.
Socio-cultural - The Office for National Statistics (ONS) state that, since 1964, the population of the UK has grown by over ten million (about half of this growth has occurred since 2001), in addition the average age of a UK citizen has increased by four years. This means that not only does NHS
In line with the majority of other developed countries, the United Kingdom (UK) has offered its citizens a universal health care system that is free at the point of service. Funded primarily by taxation, the system is popular and efficient. However, along with most other health care systems around the world, it faces a series of challenges if it is to maintain viability, in the twenty-first century. These issues include; long waiting times, an aging population, funding challenges and the increasing cost of technology.
The one saving grace of this newly implemented scheme is that parents are now able to opt out of the “mass medication” should they wish. The group setting up the scheme include Blackpool Council, Public Health England, Borrow Foundation and Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation. The reason behind it however is simply down to dental health. The proposal to introduce the fluoridated milk is simply a result of figures showing roughly 50% of 12 year olds in Blackpool are suffering from some form of dental decay or have missing/filled in teeth. This is much higher than the normal average which sits at around 33%. Councillor Graham Cain explained a little further regarding Blackpool’s poor dental health record, going on to discuss their intentions with fluoridated milk was to “reach all primary school children as they are growing up and make the fluoride milk available to them there.” While the intention is obviously a good one, the majority are left wondering why more hasn’t been done to encourage better at-home dental health
Although I did not pass with a distinction, I still managed to obtain an average of 72% for the overall degree.