Abstract
Alongside the more widely debated provisions relating to the organisation and delivery of healthcare services in the National Health Service in England, the Health and Care Act 2022 contains measures relating to public health. This article offers a critical examination of one of these, that relating to fluoridation of water supplies. The nature of this intervention as a response to problems of poor oral health is considered, and the changes made by the 2022 Act are explained. It is argued that there are clear reasons for altering the statutory framework, but that it is less immediately apparent why this development is taking place at this point in time. In order to answer this question, John Kingdon’s concept of a ‘policy window’ is deployed as a framework for understanding agenda-setting in this context. Additionally, this can facilitate analysis of the future likelihood of use of the powers conferred by the 2022 Act in this controversial area of public health.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 664-688 |
| Number of pages | 25 |
| Journal | Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly |
| Volume | 74 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 21 Feb 2024 |
Research Groups and Themes
- Centre for Health, Law and Society
Access to Document
- Full-text PDF (accepted manuscript)
This is the accepted author manuscript (AAM) of the article which has been made Open Access under the University of Bristol's Scholarly Works Policy. The final published version (Version of Record) can be found on the publisher's website. The copyright of any third-party content, such as images, remains with the copyright holder.