Taking a closer look: Using deconstruction to explore recent Department of Health policy guidelines on Copying Letters to Patients

Abstract

Purpose

This article aims to explore the value of deconstruction in the analysis of a health policy document.

Design/methodology/approach

Following a brief overview of the philosophy and concepts of deconstruction, the historical and political context of the document Copying Letters to Patients: Good Practice Guidelines is clarified. Deconstructive techniques are employed to systematically analyse the document, pursuing concepts such as the identification and exploration of marginalisation within the text; analysis of figures of self‐reference; the revelation of asymmetrical oppositions within the text; identification of tensions and instabilities within the text; and analysis of ways in which the text suggests a difference in emphasis from the apparent primary intention.

Findings

Through utilisation of the key concepts of deconstruction, it is revealed how the policy document in question becomes freed from a passive acceptance of the words as fact, and its authority is brought into question. The masquerade of coherence and continuity within the article is dismantled and its inconsistencies and contradictions are exposed. The authors’ stated attempts to prioritise the wishes and wellbeing of patients over the medical hierarchy are revealed as being subject to question and the influence of politics over health policy highlighted.

Originality/value

This article reveals how, by using deconstruction as a focus, the linguistic means by which a text exercises its power can be interrogated and the ideological assumptions underpinning its production revealed. As such a new and informative perspective is added.

Citation

Neil, W.J. (2005), "Taking a closer look: Using deconstruction to explore recent Department of Health policy guidelines on Copying Letters to Patients", Journal of Health Organization and Management, Vol. 19 No. 1, pp. 73-80. https://doi.org/10.1108/14777260510592149