ACCESS TO PATIENT CARE

Access To Patient Care

Executive Summary

The Defence Medical Services provide to a British population healthcare services that are funded from taxation and are free at the point of delivery. This paper reviews some principles for determining entitlement to healthcare for the population cared for by the Defence Medical Services. The starting point for entitlement uses the principles under which the National Health Service (NHS) was established. These are then extended to acknowledge the limitations of an NHS model when considering occupational health issues and geographical variations in healthcare provision.

Acknowledgement

I would like to express my thanks to my advisor, for his suggestions, comments, patience and understanding. Very special thanks to my parents, my father, my mother, my brother and my sister who were continuously supporting me throughout my life and leaving me free in all my decisions. I would also like to thank my colleagues for his technical support whenever I needed. I would like to thank to Department, all the university managers, teachers and students with whom I have worked.

I certify that the work presented in the dissertation is my own unless referenced

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Table of Content

EXECUTIVE SUMMARYII

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTIII

CHAPTER 01: INTRODUCTION1

Outline of the Research1

Research Objectives1

Background2

Purpose Statement3

Problem Statement3

Limitations and delimitations4

Research Objectives5

Assumptions5

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW6

Introduction6

Access to care definition research9

Access to care Demand11

Substandard Patient Care12

Failure to seek advice16

Lack of knowledge18

Failure Of The Organisation22

Lack of supervision26

CHAPTER 03: METHODOLOGY29

Research Design29

Data Collection30

Data Analysis and Synthesis30

Reliability31

Validity32

CHAPTER 04: DISCUSSION34

Pillars of the NHS34

NHS and military healthcare settings39

Principles43

CHAPTER 05: CONCLUSION51

REFERENCES52

CHAPTER 01: INTRODUCTION

Outline of the Research

It is widely acknowledged that demand for healthcare services cannot ever be completely matched by resources. Thus all healthcare systems have a mechanism for regulating demand. The process may not be explicit and may rely on surrogates such as waiting lists to manage demand. It is becoming accepted that the setting of priorities for treatment should be an explicit process that supports the allocation of resources within healthcare.1 Innovations in healthcare will increasingly pose questions for health services about entitlement to access that naturally fall out from the process of rationing.

Research Objectives

The quality and timeliness of patient care is key to maintaining a healthy life. The demand for better quality care has sky rocket of the recent years because people are living longer. According to Modernising the NHS in 2000 delays for access to care plague our healthcare systems. These delays cause patient dissatisfaction, contribute to staff dissatisfaction, and may lead to worsening clinical outcomes(Murray, 2000). In this study, patients concern regarding better care with no long wait times. While the providers and the health care admintors wants to meet higher standards. This will be the leading reason for patients returning to your health care facility.

Background

Discussions within the British medical press on rationing, priority setting and entitlement naturally concentrate on the National Health Service (NHS). The British Armed Forces also provide a healthcare service that is centrally funded from taxation and is free at the point of delivery. This paper debates the principles for determining entitlement to healthcare of military personnel, their dependants and ...