Analysis
NHS at 60
A fairly happy birthday
Tony Delamothe, deputy editor
1 BMJ, London WC1H 9JR
Analysis, doi: 10.1136/bmj.39582.501192.94Analysis, doi: 10.1136/bmj.a169Analysis, doi: 10.1136/bmj.a253Analysis, doi: 10.1136/bmj.a292
In the final article of his series on the NHS, Tony Delamothe looks at the effects of recent reforms and assesses the threat to its founding principles
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
This week the NHS celebrates its 60th birthday. It should be its most benign anniversary in recent memory. Satisfaction levels are high,1 and the British public now rates the economy, crime, and race relations as more important problems than the NHS (figure
).2 Increasing satisfaction with the NHS probably explains why the numbers of people buying private medical insurance have been falling since 2002.3 Last year the service made a surplus of at least £2bn (
2.5bn; $4bn) and is expected to make a further surplus this year.4 Productivity in hospitals is finally going up,5and the NHS is now the third most popular employer for UK graduates, after the BBC and Apple.6 Politically, its hard to detect any major difference between the policies of the Labour or Conservative parties towards the NHS, both of whom are falling over each other to be regarded as the natural custodians of the . . . [Full text of this article]
Box 1 Losing our religion
Of supermarkets and super markets
Place your bets What happened next?
Foundation trusts General practices Patients Diverse suppliersBox 3 Going spareThe competitive landscape Searching for the next big thing

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This article has been cited by other articles:
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Thomson-Moore, A.
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