Devolution and dentistry in Wales

摘要

It is approaching 15 years since political devolution set the constituent countries of the United Kingdom on divergent paths as to how health is promoted and health services are delivered and funded. Political autonomy has seen significant health policy differences evolve in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. However, Greer has argued that these differences are driven more by political philosophy than baseline differences in health needs or public preferences. At the turn of this century, all four home countries were operating the 'internal market' experiment introduced by the Conservative government of John Major. Since then, the English NHS has progressively enhanced the role of markets, while the other three countries have retreated from the market approach towards the traditional integrated state system.