The limits of primary care

Introduction

In this unit we explore questions of access to community services. To make what might be quite a dry task more challenging we use a fictionalised case study of two people for whom access to community services is particularly problematic. Jim and Marianne are both long-term heroin addicts. Additional problems associated with their addiction are homelessness and physical illness. Their situation raises both practical questions, about how services can be accessed, and moral questions, about entitlement to resources when their problems can be regarded as at least in part self-inflicted.

This material is from our archive and is an adapted extract from Understanding Health and Social Care (K100) which is no longer taught by The Open University. If you want to study formally with us, you may wish to explore other courses we offer in this subject area [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] .