A contentious intervention to support the medical workforce: a case study of the policy of introducing physician associates in the United Kingdom.

Background: Health systems across Europe are facing a workforce crisis, with some experiencing severe shortages of doctors. In response, many are exploring greater task-sharing, across established professions, such as doctors, nurses, and pharmacists, with patients and carers, and with new occupational groups, in particular ones that can assist doctors and relieve their workload.

Case Presentation: In the early 2000s the United Kingdom created a new occupational role, that of physician assistant.

The Future Hospital in Global Health Systems: The Future Hospital Within the Healthcare System.

Future hospitals must be able to adapt in many ways to the changing demands on their roles and functions within evolving healthcare delivery infrastructures. These include changing population structures and needs, new models of healthcare provision, technological advances, and innovations in design, all while enhancing their environmental sustainability. This article sets out the issues that those determining healthcare policy and designing future hospitals must consider if they are to become and remain fit for purpose within the wider health and social care system.

The Future Hospital in Global Health Systems: The Future Hospital as an Entity.

Health care is changing rapidly. Hospitals are, and will remain, an essential setting to deliver it. We discuss how to maximise the benefits of hospitals in the future in different geographic and health system settings, highlighting a series of cross-cutting issues.

Pathways to Hypertension Control: Unfinished Journeys of Low-Income Individuals in Malaysia and the Philippines.

Background: Reducing inequities in hypertension control among those affected in low- and middle-income countries requires person-centred health system responses based on a contextualised understanding of the choices and care pathways taken by those who rely on the services provided, particularly those from poor and marginalised communities. We examine patterns of care seeking and pathways followed by individuals with hypertension from low-income households in the Philippines and Malaysia. This study aims to fill a significant gap in the literature by analysing the stages at which individuals make decisions that may affect the successful control of their blood pressure.