Analysis

NHS at 60

A fairly happy birthday

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, it’s 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 suppliers
Box 3 Going spare
The competitive landscape

Searching for the next big thing

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This article has been cited by other articles:

• Thomson-Moore, A. (2008). Doctors' infantalisation. BMJ 337: a791-a791 [Full text]  

Rapid Responses:

Read all Rapid Responses

citing letters in the FT

Sebastian Kraemer
bmj.com, 4 Jul 2008 [Full text]

All in the Title

Peter A West
bmj.com, 9 Jul 2008 [Full text]

Re: All in the Title

Alexandra L Thomson-Moore
bmj.com, 10 Jul 2008 [Full text]