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BMJ 2008;336:1278-1281 (7 June), doi:10.1136/bmj.a169
Tony Delamothe, deputy editor
1 BMJ, London WC1H 9JR
tdelamothe@bmj.com
Sixty years on, the NHS is still struggling to ensure equal access to the best care. In the second article in his series, Tony Delamothe examines the difficulties
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
One of the objectives of the National Health Service set out in the 1940s was "To ensure that everybody in the country—irrespective of means, age, sex, or occupation—shall have equal opportunity to benefit from the best and most up to date medical and allied services available."1 How have these founding principles of universality, equity, and quality fared after 60 years?
Everyone who is "ordinarily resident" in the United Kingdom has the right to free primary and secondary care provided by the NHS. Until earlier this year, failed asylum seekers were deemed not to be ordinarily resident, but a judicial review has successfully challenged the lawfulness of Department of Health guidance on this point.2
Otherwise, this founding principle seems the least contested of all. From time to time its argued that certain categories of patients should be excluded from certain treatments—usually based on disapproval of their lifestyles (smoking, obesity, etc)—but these
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