Health Policy and Practice
For health and healthcare managers to help you design and implement policy reform efficiently in your organisation.
Programme overview
- Start date: Autumn 2025 (TBC)
- Duration: 6 weeks
- Mode: Online (1 live online session per week)
- Standard Fee: £1,800* (*NHS staff & UCL staff and alumni 20% discount)
Health policies and practices frequently change to meet the evolution of healthcare innovation and public health goals. These health policies impact our practices at the local, national, and international levels. Health and healthcare leaders, therefore, need to understand how to manage policies from development through to implementation.
This course builds these crucial competencies by enabling the proactive management of policy reform while creating resilient learning organisations through change management, combining cutting-edge research, professional insights, and real-world case studies.
Engage actively by asking questions, analysing content, and collaborating with peers to drive impactful results in policy reform. The course also entails team-based challenge projects.
This course will support you to:
- Understand the principles that guide health policies, their development, and implementation
- Identify the consequences of health policies for the health system and practitioners within it
- Appreciate the various stakeholders involved in shaping health policies
- Understand core frameworks for evaluating policy interventions
- Recognise change management approaches for implementing health policy shifts
- Anticipate trends in healthcare policy and practice, so you can design and plan accordingly
Who this course is for
This course is for managers across the health and healthcare sector, who have responsibility for areas of health policy and practice.
You may work in:
- human resources
- a clinical setting
- policymaking
- healthcare management.
It's also suitable for people who work in an industry related to health, where you need an understanding of health policy and practice.

Course content
The course includes three modules:
This module provides a foundational understanding of health policy, legal frameworks, and economic evaluation, equipping participants with the analytical tools to design evidence-based policies.
- Health policy development and reform – Frameworks, principles, and evaluation of policy effectiveness
- Global and national health systems – Comparative policy approaches and governance structures
- Health law and regulatory compliance – Public health law, patient rights, and ethical considerations
- Economic evaluation in health policy – Cost-effectiveness, value-based healthcare, and fiscal impact of reforms
This module focuses on the practical aspects of policy implementation, highlighting change management, digital transformation and innovation, and resilience-building strategies.
- Change management and leadership in health systems – Driving policy adoption, overcoming resistance, and measuring impact
- Digital health and innovation policy – AI, telemedicine, and regulatory challenges in digital transformation, including as it pertains to Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs)
- Crisis preparedness and health system resilience – Managing pandemics, supply chain disruptions, and emergency response
- Stakeholder engagement and PPPs – Policy execution through cross-sector collaboration
This module emphasises how policies translate into meaningful, sustainable, and equitable healthcare outcomes.
- Health equity and Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) – Addressing disparities through policy intervention
- Community-based implementation strategies – Engaging local health systems and communities in reform efforts
- Monitoring and evaluating policy impact – Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), data analytics, and feedback loops
- Sustainability in health policy – Long-term funding and adapting to evolving healthcare needs
Teaching and structure
Over six weeks you will explore three modules. You will study each module over two weeks, dedicating approximately 10 to 12 hours on various activities including:
- watching live online lectures
- reading
- taking part in discussion forum activities
- completing formative assessments, such as self-reflection exercises and quizzes
- completing marked project assignments
Weekly online live session with the course lead.
Learning outcomes
By the end of this course, you'll be able to:
- understand the principles that guide health policies, laws and reforms
- appreciate how different health systems approach the organisation of healthcare
- identify the consequences of health policy and legal interventions
- appreciate the various stakeholders involved in shaping health care law and practices
- understand the similarities and differences between evaluating policy interventions compared with clinical interventions
- recognise change management approaches for effectively implementing changes in health policy within your organisation
- anticipate changes in healthcare policy and practice, so you can design and plan their efficient implementation
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Assessment, certificates and accreditation

You'll receive a certificate of completion and CPD points awarded by The CPD Certification Service when you've completed all the marked assignments for each of the three modules. These include mandatory discussion forums, short written assignments and a final project.
You'll also be able to assess how you're doing throughout the course by completing multiple choice quizzes and unmarked self-reflection exercises.
Entry requirements
We recommended you have a degree or interest in healthcare policy and law.
Fees
Standard Fee: £1,800*
*20% discount eligibility:
- UCL Staff/Alumni
- NHS Staff
- Corporate multi-buy Fee 3+ places
NHS staff and UCL alumni and staff discount is subject to valid email address. Discount eligibility will be verified as part of application.
For corporate partnerships, or if you are interested in booking on behalf of your organisation or to discuss executive learning solutions for your organisation, please contact executiveeducation.gbsh@ucl.ac.uk
Course lead
Dr. Chris L. Hardesty is a public health policy practitioner, having lived and worked in nearly every major global geography. His particular area of emphasis is on Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) in order to bring safe, effective, economically-viable medical innovation to those populations in need. In addition to health policy and practice, Dr. Hardesty’s lectures for GBSH range from global health systems through to adoption of technologies into public health settings. Beyond GBSH, Dr. Hardesty serves on numerous national and international councils for policy formation. He received his Doctorate of Public Health from the University of North Carolina and Masters of Business Administration from Thunderbird School of Global Management. Dr. Hardesty currently resides across Asia (Singapore) and the Middle East (Saudi Arabia).
Further information can be found at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chardesty/

How to apply
All applications need to be completed online.
Your application will be sent to the Executive Education Team and you will receive an email within 48 hours (excluding weekends) and a link to pay. Payment to be made in full by credit card. Your place on the programme will be confirmed on receipt of payment. We will contact you with all the details pertaining to the course, content, access and timetable 4 weeks prior to the start date.
For any queries, please contact executiveeducation.gbsh@ucl.ac.uk