Equity in the NHS

BMJ 1994;308:1717 (25 June)

Letters

Equity in the NHS

EDITOR, - Margaret Whitehead's picture of health services beforethe establishment of the NHS reminds us of the dangers of marketforces operating in health care.¹ She indicates clearly thatwe are now well along the road to requiring certain sectionsof the population to pay directly for the consequences of illhealth. What causes the greatest concern, though, is that themain financial burden is falling on the most disadvantaged insociety.

The continuing care of older people has in effect been takenout of the public sector and privatised. As this has been accomplishedwithout any public debate most of the population are unawareof the profound effect it will have on financial arrangementsfor old age. It has been allowed to occur despite repeated statementsfrom the Department of Health and ministerial pronouncementsthat long term care in the NHS, free to patients, still hasa place.^2,3 . . . [Full text of this article]

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This article has been cited by other articles:

Murray, P I (1994). Waiting times in an ophthalmic outpatient clinic. BMJ 309: 1231a-1231 [Full text]
Thomas, H F, Downes, S, Diaper, C (1994). Waiting times in an ophthalmic outpatient department. BMJ 309: 878b-879 [Full text]
Burns-Cox, C J (1994). Waiting times and the patient's charter. BMJ 309: 343b-343 [Full text]