Lyme disease politics and evidence‑based policy making in the UK

2019 ◽  
pp. 319-326
Author(s):  
Kate Bloor
Keyword(s):  
Lyme Disease ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Policy Issue ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Real World Evidence ◽  
Socially Relevant ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Policy And Science

There are few ‘accepted’ approaches to dealing with tick- borne infections (including Lyme disease) that have not been challenged. This case study looks at my role in UK Lyme patient’s activism and policy change (for example, related to the NICE clinical guidelines process) focussing on one specific policy issue. It shows how critical analysis of scientific, clinical and other real- world evidence drew on and reflected the ethos of the Radstats network. It is a story showing how I worked with others with statistical skills - using science and evidence to challenge policy successfully. It explains how communities can take action, while using or creating scientific knowledge - to improve policy and people’s health. It shows how networks of communities can engage through social change (based on an understanding of policy and science) to make it more socially relevant and responsive, as well as more scientifically robust.

Can Complexity Move UK Policy beyond ‘Evidence-Based Policy Making’ and the ‘Audit Culture’? Applying a ‘Complexity Cascade’ to Education and Health Policy

2011 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Geyer
Keyword(s):  
Health Policy ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Policy Response ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Visual Metaphor ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Audit Culture ◽  
Education And Health ◽  
Evidence Based Policy ◽  
The Uk

For much of the twentieth century UK public policy has been based on a strong centralist, rationalist and managerialist framework. This orientation was significantly amplified by New Labour in the 1990s and 2000s, leading to the development of ‘evidence-based policy making’ (EBPM) and the ‘audit culture’ – a trend that looks set to continue under the current government. Substantial criticisms have been raised against the targeting/audit strategies of the audit culture and other forms of EBPM, particularly in complex policy areas. This article accepts these criticisms and argues that in order to move beyond these problems one must not only look at the basic foundation of policy strategies, but also develop practical alternatives to those strategies. To that end, the article examines one of the most basic and common tools of the targeting/audit culture, the aggregate linear X-Y graph, and shows that when it has been applied to UK education policy, it leads to: (1) an extrapolation tendency; (2) a fluctuating ‘crisis–success' policy response process; and (3) an intensifying targeting/auditing trend. To move beyond these problems, one needs a visual metaphor which combines an ability to see the direction of policy travel with an aspect of continual openness that undermines the extrapolation tendency, crisis–success policy response and targeting/auditing trend. Using a general complexity approach, and building on the work of Geyer and Rihani, this article will attempt to show that a ‘complexity cascade’ tool can be used to overcome these weaknesses and avoid their negative effects in both education and health policy in the UK.

scholarly journals The new evidence-based policy: public participation between ‘hard evidence’ and democracy in practice

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 209-227
Author(s):  
Helen Pallett
Keyword(s):  
Public Participation ◽  
Science Policy ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Evidence Based Policy ◽  
Hard Evidence ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Uk

Background:Debates about evidence-based policy (EBP) were revived in the UK in the 2010s in the context of civil service reform and changing practices of policy making, including institutionalisation of public participation in science policy making. Aims and objectives:This paper aims to explore this revival of interest in EBP in the context of the Government-funded public participation programme Sciencewise, which supports and promotes public dialogues in science policy making. It is based on in-depth ethnographic study of the programme during 2013, considering the impacts on Sciencewise practices and working understandings of engaging in the EBP debate. There is a particular focus on the advantages and disadvantages of categorising public participation as a source of evidence-based policy as opposed to presenting participation as a democratic act which is separate from discussions of EBP. Key conclusions:At different times Sciencewise actors moved between these stances in order to gain credibility and attention for their work, and to situate the outcomes of public participation processes in a broader policy context. In some instances the presentation of outputs from public participation processes as legitimate evidence for policy gave them greater influence and enriched broader discussions about the meaning and practice of open policy. However, it also frequently led to their dismissal on methodological grounds, inhibiting serious engagement with their outputs and challenging internal frameworks for evaluation and learning.

Social Science and the Evidence-based Policy Movement

2002 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 215-224 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ken Young ◽  
Deborah Ashby ◽  
Annette Boaz ◽  
Lesley Grayson
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Gold Standard ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Policy Research ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Policy Debate ◽  
Evidence Based Policy ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Effective Contribution

There is a growing interest in ‘evidence-based policy making’ in the UK. However, there remains some confusion about what evidence-based policy making actually means. This paper outlines some of the models used to understand how evidence is thought to shape or inform policy in order to explore the assumptions underlying ‘evidence-based policy making.’ By way of example, it considers the process of evidence seeking and in particular the systematic review as a presumed ‘gold standard’ of the EBP movement. It highlights some of the opportunities and challenges represented in this approach for policy research. The final part of the paper outlines some questions of capacity that need to be addressed if the social sciences are to make a more effective contribution to policy debate in Britain.

Evidence-Based Organizational Change in the UK Public Sector

2019 ◽  
pp. 398-404 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Devins ◽  
Alex Watson ◽  
Paul Turner
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Adaptive Strategy ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Design Development ◽  
City Authority ◽  
What Works ◽  
Management Processes ◽  
The Uk

This reflective case history reflects on the experiences of a UK City Authority as it responds to the challenge of policy making for inclusive economic growth. It tells how the authority, in responding to a long-term vision, used change management processes to articulate and then implement change. The approach is characterized by the use of evidence to promote change within and between organizations. This is complemented by an adaptive strategy based on the design, development, implementation, and monitoring of interventions. Change is achieved in relatively small steps through minor innovations in practice and ongoing consideration of what works and what more can be done.

The Administrative State and the Fundamentals of Public Law

2020 ◽  
pp. 257-272
Author(s):  
ACL Davies
Keyword(s):  
Integrated Care ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Administrative Law ◽  
Competitive Market ◽  
Health And Social Care ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Uk National Health Service ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Principle Of Legality

This chapter uses recent developments in the UK National Health Service (NHS) as a case study to illustrate the importance of the courts’ role in upholding the principle of legality. The Health and Social Care Act 2012 was a controversial piece of legislation which sought to ensure that the day-to-day running of the NHS would be underpinned by a competitive market. Since the Act was passed, this policy has fallen out of favour, and ministers have pursued a new policy of ‘integrated care’, in which different NHS organisations are encouraged to work together rather than to compete. In the Hutchinson and Shepherd cases, the courts have held that it is intra vires the 2012 Act to pursue integrated care, even though it is arguably the exact opposite of a competitive market. This chapter offers a critical analysis of these cases and emphasises the importance of the administrative law principle of legality in upholding democratic government.

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