healthmatters issue 25

Published Spring 1996

Editorial
- From rosy view to clear vision
News
Columns
- News from nowhere
- When will governments put public health first?
  
  The BSE crisis isn’t the first time that government has failed to act decisively to protect the health of its citizens, explains Charles Webster
Features
- Is crime a health issue?
  
  The relationships between crime and health are complex and often hidden. While health services can’t tackle crime head on, neither can they ignore it, says Chris Ford
- Casualties of limited evidence?
  
  Recent proposals that many A&E departments should close ignore the realities of inner-city health care, says Nikki Joule
- The road to healthier streets
  
  There are enormous health benefits to be gained from rethinking our transport policies, argues John Stewart
- When things go wrong...
  
  The old NHS complaints system was notorious for being confusing and unsatisfactory for all concerned. Lesley Wratten explains the thinking behind the new system, which began on 1 April
- Working for nobody
  
  With the NHS reforms now five years old, James Munro measures the promises of the reformers against the reality of the results. Are they really ‘working for patients’?
- On our own doorstep
  
  Before British politicians attend the World Food Summit in Rome later this year they must respond to the food insecurity of many of their own citizens, says Jacqui Webster
- News for crews with no loos
  
  Alice Lovell goes behind closed doors to investigate a neglected occupational health issue
- Shorter waits for the clinic?
  
  Patient’s Charter standards have had little effect on outpatient waiting times, says the Radical Statistics Health Group
- Feeding off failure
  
  The diet industry grows rich selling products which promise dreams but deliver failure, argues Mary Evans Young
Reviews
- Beveridge rides again
  
  The five giants: a biography of the welfare state
  Nicholas Timmins
  HarperCollins, £9.99
- Rethinking ageism
  
  AGEISM
  Bill Bytheway
  Open University Press, 1995, £13.99
- Wheezy on weekdays?
  
  Asthma at work: causes, effects and what to do about them
  Rory O’Neill
  TUC/Sheffield Occupational Health Project, 1995, £6.00
- Appraising appraisal
  
  PUBLIC SECTOR MANAGERIAL EFFECTIVENESS: Theory and Practice in the National Health Service
  Hugh Flanagan and Peter Spurgeon
  Open University Press, 1996, £14.99
- An issue of neglect
  
  ELDER ABUSE IN PERSPECTIVE
  S Biggs, C Phillipson and P Kingston
  Open University Press, 1995, £13.99
- An eye on the capital
  
  London Monitor 1996
  Sean Boyle and Richard Hamblin (eds)
  King’s Fund, 1996, £9.95
Letters
Column
- There’s no smoking without ire