Social policy is now part of all nursing courses at pre-registration level. It is also an important topic in many post-registration courses for nurses and other health care professionals. All health care professionals are also now expected to play a more active role in policy development and implementation. This text will be unique among books currently on offer in that it willprovide an outline of the main structures, issues and developments in social policy, relating to the healthcare field. In addition, it contextualises practice by means of examples and case studies from a range of client groups.