This insightful book describes how Health Services Research (HSR) can be developed and used to evaluate, advance and improve all aspects of health services. It demonstrates the need for good HSR to avoid the continuation or development of ineffective or cost-inefficient services. Drawing on his extensive personal experience in the development of HSR, Walter Holland provides examples from the US and the UK to illustrate important lessons for the future improvement of health services. Taking a distinctive approach to describing the purposes and activities of HSR, the book focuses on the...

First published in 1999, this volume recognises that the role and status of public health in Europe has again become increasingly recognized and features contributions on various nations within the European Community. This is not only in individual countries but also in the policies of the European Union as exemplified in the Maastricht and Amsterdam Treaties. This book is a critical account of the present structures and policies of member countries and how policies have evolved within the European Commission. It describes both possible models and needs and contrasts these with the current...