On the way to Calvary

BMJ 1998;317:5 ( 4 July )

Editorials

On the way to Calvary

Ministers should realise the command and control model the white paper entails

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

What is surprising about the government's plans for the reform of the NHS in England is not what is in the white paper¹but what is omitted. The white paper was a triumph of style overcontent, which temporarily convinced a sympathetic professionand the wider public that all would be well for the NHS underLabour. Now the presentational triumph is over, come the painsof implementation, and ministers may find that they have unintentionally nailed themselves to a cross. For what is implicit in the whitepaper, but not spelt out, is that if the policies outlined init are to succeed central government will have to play a moreactive role, managing and directing change.

The Conservative reforms of 1991 were intended to diffuse blame to the market. In practice, politics dragged ministers back,as the market was never allowed free play. The new Labour planswill, in . . . [Full text of this article]

CiteULike

Complore

Connotea

Del.icio.us Add to Digg

Digg

StumbleUpon Add to Technorati

Technorati What's this?

Relevant Articles

Elements of decentralisation in plans to reform NHS may prevail: Chris Ham
BMJ 1998 317: 753. [Extract] [Full Text]

The NHS at 50
BMJ 1998 317: 0. [Full Text]

This article has been cited by other articles:

Maynard, A., Bloor, K., Hawker, P (2001). Reforming the contract of UK consultants Commentary: To increase consultants' activity should not be the main aim. BMJ 322: 541-544 [Full text]
Majeed, A., Malcolm, L. (1999). Unified budgets for primary care groups. BMJ 318: 772-776 [Full text]
Smith, R. (1998). Repositioning self regulation. BMJ 317: 964-964 [Full text]
Ham, C. (1998). Elements of decentralisation in plans to reform NHS may prevail. BMJ 317: 753-753 [Full text]