For some years now health and health care have occupied a central place in
the cultures of late modern societies. At the same time, health and health care
have become a key focus for politicians and policy makers in Britain and
elsewhere and stand at the meeting point of a range of social conflicts. These
in turn relate to profound changes in the social, economic and political map
of Britain and other countries.
The health policy issues which these changes have generated were initially
paid relatively little attention by medical sociologists. This realization led
us to organize a seminar in London, twenty years ago, to facilitate the development
of a sociological analysis of health policy. The papers from this
seminar were subsequently published in a book edited by ourselves called
The Sociology of the Health Service and published by Routledge.
While the need for a sociological analysis of health policy has now been
recognized over the last decade or more, there have been considerable
changes in health service policy and health policy in general. This has
involved changes to existing policies and the development of new policy
themes. The latter have included the emergence of evidence-based policy
and practice, an increasing focus on a primary care-led health service, a
growing recognition of the need to address inequalities through public
health policies, a heightened awareness of the influence of the pharmaceutical
industry and a focus on the views and/or the voice of the user and the
public.