Published 14 August 2008, doi:10.1136/bmj.a1293
Cite this as: BMJ 2008;337:a1293

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Meddling and bearing witness

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

For as long as I can remember the government has been reorganising the NHS, and a series of commentators, ranging from interested outsiders to official auditors, has been saying, in effect, "stop meddling."

The most recent interested outsiders have included Don Berwick and Donald Light in their commentaries on the NHS (BMJ 2008, 26 July, doi: 10.1136/bmj.a838, doi: 10.1136/bmj.a824). This week it’s the turn of the official auditors. The Audit Commission and the Healthcare Commission have recently reported on the success of the latest reforms of the NHS in England, and Gwyn Bevan discusses their findings in an editorial (doi: 10.1136/bmj.a935). The auditors find little evidence of benefit from the four main changes—foundation trusts, greater use of the independent sector, more choice for patients, and payment by results. In dissecting why that is so, Bevan provides a potted history of the NHS and its reforms since . . . [Full text of this article]

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