ABSTRACT
This chapter presents an overview of the Turkish health sector to make readers familiar with the system and its specific problems. The Turkish health care system is characterised by its fragmented structure both in finance and provision. The chapter analyses Turkish health policies and policy making environment. The Ministry of Health listed the problems in policy development as follows: no long-term, consistent and stable health policies; involvement of a variety of institutions in health policy; no scientific support in the policy development process; and lack of qualified personnel for policy development. The chapter explores the three critical phases of Turkish health policies in order to elucidate the policy making process at the macro level. It also presents the reform proposals and progress and also analyses the future awaiting the Turkish health sector. The English National Health Service reforms were particularly important as the Turkish proposals were heavily inspired from the concepts of internal market, purchaser-provider split and self-governing trusts.
