Harnessing deliberative regulation to address inequities in accessing healthcare services in England.

System-level decisions around the commissioning and provision of healthcare services in England have contributed to barriers in accessing the National Health Service. In this article, we ask how to better regulate resource allocation to ensure greater equity in access to healthcare services. First, we focus on the Health and Care Act 2022, which, drawing on principles of deliberative regulation to address health inequalities, initiates a shift away from previous regulatory approaches towards a collaborative decision-making model.

Solidarity and trust in European Union health governance: three ways forward.

Trust and solidarity are centrally important to the functioning of healthcare systems, and for societal resilience and stability more broadly. The European Union is increasingly shaping governance and norms that affect trust and solidarity in health-a process that has intensified with the announcement of the 'European Health Union' in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In this context, how can the EU ensure solidarity in health while generating public trust as a pre-condition for solidaristic institutions? We propose three strategies to reach this goal.

Core Legal Challenges for Medical 3D Printing in the EU.

3D printing has been adopted into routine use for certain medical applications, but more widespread usage has been hindered by, among other things, unclear legislation. We performed an analysis, using legal doctrinal study and legal informatics, of relevant EU legislation and case law in four issues relevant to medical 3D printing (excluding bioprinting or pharmacoprinting): pre-market approval, post-market liability, intellectual property rights, and data protection. Several gaps and uncertainties in the current legislation and interpretations were identified.

Ethical and Information Governance Considerations for Promoting Digital Social Interventions in Primary Care.

Promoting online peer support beyond the informal sector to statutory health services requires ethical considerations and evidence-based knowledge about its impact on patients, health care professionals, and the wider health care system. Evidence on the effectiveness of digital interventions in primary care is sparse, and definitive guidance is lacking on the ethical concerns arising from the use of social media as a means for health-related interventions and research. Existing literature examining ethical issues with digital interventions in health care mainly focuses on apps, electronic health records, wearables, and telephone or video consultations, without necessarily covering digital social interventions, and does not always account for primary care settings specifically.

Legal issues and underexplored data protection in medical 3D printing: A scoping review.

3D printing has quickly found many applications in medicine. However, as with any new technology the regulatory landscape is struggling to stay abreast. Unclear legislation or lack of legislation has been suggested as being one hindrance for wide-scale adoption.

Opening Pandora's Loot Box: Weak Links Between Gambling and Loot Box Expenditure in China, and Player Opinions on Probability Disclosures and Pity-Timers.

Loot boxes are quasi-gambling virtual products in video games that provide randomised rewards of varying value. Previous studies in Western contexts have identified a positive correlation between loot box purchasing and problem gambling severity. A preregistered survey of People's Republic of China (PRC) video game players (N = 879) failed to replicate this correlation.

Impact on the NHS and health of the UK's trade and cooperation relationship with the EU, and beyond.

The UK's relationship with the European Union (EU) is now embodied in two principal legal instruments: the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, which formally entered into force on 1 May 2021; and the Withdrawal Agreement, with its Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland, which continues to apply. Using a 'building blocks' framework for analysis of national health systems derived from the World Health Organisation, this article examines the likely impacts in the UK of this legal settlement on the National Health Service (NHS), health and social care. Specifically, we determine the extent to which the trade, cooperation and regulatory aspects of those legal measures support positive impacts for the NHS and social care.

Legal issues and challenges in addressing the coronavirus outbreak on large cruise ships: A critical examination of port state measures.

International cruises have drawn worldwide attention since the outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19). This article first examines the legal issues, challenges and impact of the pandemic on large cruise ships, like the and then probes into corresponding pandemic preventive measures which port states employ. A State is obliged under the to grant foreign cruise ships , but there is an exception when public health emergencies of international concern occur.

The NHS in Northern Ireland Post-Brexit: the Legal Position on Product Supply.

The UK left the European Union's single market on 1 January 2021. A Withdrawal Agreement made special provision for Northern Ireland. However, 'grace periods' concerning supply of goods were agreed, delaying full application of the new rules.

Brexit and trade policy: an analysis of the governance of UK trade policy and what it means for health and social justice.

Background: There is an extensive body of research demonstrating that trade and globalisation can have wide-ranging implications for health. Robust governance is key to ensuring that health, social justice and sustainability are key considerations within trade policy, and that health risks from trade are effectively mitigated and benefits are maximised. The UK's departure from the EU provides a rare opportunity to examine a context where trade governance arrangements are being created anew, and to explore the consequences of governance choices and structures for health and social justice.

COVID-19 Highlighting Inequalities in Access to Healthcare in England: A Case Study of Ethnic Minority and Migrant Women.

Our commentary aims to show that the COVID-19 pandemic has amplified existing barriers to healthcare in England for ethnic minority and migrant women. We expose how the pandemic has affected the allocation of healthcare resources leading to the prioritisation of COVID-19 patients and suspending the equal access to healthcare services approach. We argue that we must look beyond this disruption in provision by examining existing barriers to access that have been amplified by the pandemic in order to understand the poorer health outcomes for women in ethnic minority and migrant communities.