Towards the development of a healthcare ethics of austerity: Frontline healthcare professionals’ experiences of austerity-driven policies in the UK (360G-Wellcome-201552_Z_16_Z)

The 2008 global financial crisis severely affected most European countries. In 2010, the UK government began a self-imposed austerity programme to reduce its budget deficit. Since this time, a growing body of literature has demonstrated the socio-economic consequences of austerity-driven policies and their impact on healthcare provision. However, there has been scarce attention given to generating empirical accounts of the ethical implications of austerity-driven policies on everyday practices, and for frontline healthcare professionals. In addressing these gaps in the literature, this project will not only provide an understanding of how austerity-driven policies and subsequent system reforms impact and shape ideas and healthcare practices of ethical professional conduct but also allow for frontline experiences of those implementing these policies to be captured. This project will adopt an inter-disciplinary approach drawing on methodological and theoretical strengths of sociology and philosophy to answer the question: In what ways have austerity measures and reforms affected the everyday ethical decision-making and experiences of frontline healthcare professionals in NHS? The aims are to: (i) describe frontline healthcare professionals’ experience caring for patients in conditions of austerity, and (ii) examine, through philosophical analysis, the perspectives and ethical issues experienced by frontline healthcare professionals.