Minimum alcohol pricing: what we found in Wales after five years
Almost five years ago, a new law came into force in Wales making it illegal to sell alcohol for less than 50p per unit. Since its introduction, we have been evaluating the effects of minimum alcohol pricing and our findings...
More…
The Research Excellence Framework (REF) in times of a shrinking higher education sector
UK Higher Education is “shrinking” with 87 universities currently thought to have active redundancy and/or restructuring schemes in place. The Research Excellence Framework (REF) project proceeds regardless. The previous REF (REF2021) is estimated to have cost £471 million and is...
More…
Proposals to regulate NHS Managers: a consultation
“Ultimately a regulation is a signal of design failure . . .” William McDonough The default response by government and commentators to scandals, inquiries, and other problems within the NHS is almost universally to demand more or tougher “regulation,” and...
More…
Drug-consumption facilities: they’ve been around since 1986 and now Scotland has one – but do they work?
It has taken more than ten years of wrangling, but the UK’s first legal drug-consumption facility has finally opened in Glasgow. These facilities offer a safe, clean place for people to use illicit drugs, usually by injection, in the presence...
More…
Helsinki Declaration: Healthy Volunteers and Risk
Across the globe, thousands of interventional clinical trials take place every year and many healthy participants are recruited to participate in such trials. Participation in these interventional clinical trials is not without ethical concerns, and many who take part are...
More…
Adolescents struggle with their mental health: blame austerity, not parents
(or To help understand adolescents’ mental health, look (also) at the benefit system) In the run-up to the 2010 UK general election, David Cameron declared that “what matters most to a child’s life chances is not the wealth of their...
More…
Lived experience and social welfare policy
In the UK, there is a clear policy imperative to facilitate greater participation in contemporary public policy making in part to address a purported democratic deficit, both locally and nationally. This is most evident in the context of health policy,...
More…
Why is work bad for you?
Work forms a major part of our lives. It provides so much and simultaneously so little. It pays the bills, provides some form of structure to the day or night depending on the type of work, and can form a...
More…
“Mental health culture” has not gone far enough – long term failures in mental health policy
A long-standing notion in UK policy has been that increased public awareness can improve national mental health. Notable campaigns include the Mental Health Foundation Mental Health Awareness Week launched in 2001; England’s Time to Change campaign (2007-2021); and Heads Together...
More…
Cutting their teeth in government- why the Labour Party will fail on tooth decay
Whilst it may be some way from being the most glamorous debate in political economy, the issue of tooth decay is instructive of a larger systemic problem in the relationship between pre-general election party policy and the future of the...
More…
Mental Health Culture
“Mental health culture has gone too far, says Mel Stride”. This was the title of an article published in The Telegraph towards the end of March, that certainly generated a fair amount of attention on my Twitter feed, at least....
More…
An epidemic of poor work-related health may be upon us