Who Killed the English National Health Service?

Document Type : Perspective

Author

Health Services Management Centre, School of Social Policy, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK

Abstract

The death of the English National Health Service (NHS) has been pronounced many times over the years, but the time and cause of death and the murder weapon remains to be fully established. This article reviews some of these claims, and asks for clearer criteria and evidence to be presented.

Highlights

Commentaries Published on this Paper

  • Wolves and Big Yellow Taxis: How Would Be Know If the NHS Is at Death’s Door? Comment on “Who killed the English National Health Service?”

            Abstract | PDF

  • Rhetoric and Reality in the English National Health Service; Comment on “Who Killed the English National Health Service?”

            Abstract | PDF

  • Slow Poisoning? Interests, Emotions, and the Strength of the English NHS; Comment on “Who Killed the English National Health Service?”

            Abstract | PDF

  • The Slow, Lingering Death of the English NHS; Comment on “Who Killed the English National Health Service?”

            Abstract | PDF

 

Author’s Response to the Commentaries

  • Let’s Raise a Half-Full Glass to the Zombie NHS: A Response to Recent Commentaries

            Abstract | PDF

Keywords

Main Subjects


  1. Department of Health. Working for Patients. London: The Stationery Office; 1989.
  2. Department of Health. The NHS Improvement Plan. London: The Stationery Office; 2004.
  3. Bevan A. In Place of Fear (first published 1952). London: Quartet; 1978.
  4. Powell M. Granny’s footsteps, fractures and the principles of the NHS. Critical Social Policy 1996; 16: 27-44. 
  5. Pollock A. Will primary care trusts lead to US-style health care? Br Med J 2001; 322: 964-7.
  6. Pollock A. NHS Plc: The Privatisation of our Health Care. London: Verso; 2005.
  7. Davis J, Tallis R. NHS SOS. London: Oneworld; 2013.
  8. Labour Party. The NHS as you know it cannot survive five more years of David Cameron [internet]. 3 January 2015. Available from: http://press.labour.org.uk/post/107042028464/the-nhs-as-you-know-it-cannot-survive-five-more
  9. Powell M. Evaluating the National Health Service. Buckingham: Open University Press; 1997.
  10. Ruane S. Public-private boundaries and the transformation of the NHS. Critical Social Policy 1997; 17: 53-78.
  11. Taylor R. God Bless the NHS. London: Faber and Faber; 2013.
  12. BBC News. Wales and NI A&E waits ‘worsen’, N. Triggle, 16 January 2015. Available from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-30847730
  13. Davis K, Stremikis K, Squires D, Schoen C. Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, How the Performance of the U.S. Health Care System Compares Internationally [internet]. New York: Commonwealth Fund; 2014. Available from: http://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/fund-reports/2014/jun/mirror-mirror
  14. Department of Health. Simon Burns: Why any change to the NHS is always opposed; 14 March 2012.