Briefing

“Doctors need to be honest about their resistance to powersharing and their own resistance to losing power,” writes a social services manager in the Health Services Journal(1999;20 May:26-7). Irrational variations in practice and bed politicking that keeps waiting lists long and private fees up are practices common among doctors who are “unmanaged and unmanageable.” Largely ignoring the large amounts of unpaid work that the majority of doctors do to keep the NHS running, the author proposes “working in partnership with client groups” as the solution. Will doctors want to join “empowering community development work” to be the target everyone wants to take a pop at? Hostility has a nasty habit of becoming mutual; and this article-which contains many cogent criticisms-is worth reading, if only so one can reflect how to rise above it.