Health Care and Adult Social Care in England: An Overview and Critique with Lessons for Taiwan

The health care and social care system in Taiwan is less developed than those in Western countries. In particular, the English system has developed considerably over the last forty years. Future development of policy in Taiwan could benefit by a study of these other systems to better understand the effectiveness and quality of their services, which are structured differently than the Taiwanese system. The first part of the paper provides high-level background information on health care and social care in England, with a brief overview of the regulatory framework. The critique draws on evidence taken largely from regulatory activities as a means of exploring the impact of two key policy agendas in England: (1) improved personalization of care, to ensure that the services are focused on the people who are most in need of them; and (2) integration of care, to ensure that the services are linked with partnering agencies as a way to increase the comprehensiveness, integration, and coordination of the services. The final part of the paper draws key implications from the English experience and applies these to Taiwan. The paper builds on a small but growing field of social policy research that the two nations share in common.