The Challenge of Controlling COVID-19

Public Health and Social Care Policy in England During the First Wave

Lewis, Jane

• Publisher: Policy Press
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781447362517
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Social Policy
• Index: Politics & International Relations

Providing an account of the policy response to COVID-19 in England, this book analyses the political and long-term systemic factors associated with the failures to control the first wave of the pandemic during 2020. It explores the part played by key policy actors, particularly politicians and scientists, and focuses on two difficult policy issues during the first wave: the establishment of a 'test, trace and isolate' system and responses to the high death rate in care homes for older people. Drawing on a wide range of documentary evidence, including parliamentary papers and SAGE minutes, this book draws attention to the importance of longstanding structural problems in public health and the care sector, especially the impact of outsourcing and privatisation.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Preface
• Introduction
• 1 The approach to the early stage of the pandemic by politicians and scientists
• 2 The position of public health and the problem of ‘test and trace’
• 3 Care homes for elderly people1
• Conclusion
• Notes
• References