Only general practice can save the NHS

‘Things can only get better?’ - the argument for NHS independence

Part of the problem with the NHS is that health care is so important to the general public that politicians have no choice but to intervene. From Margaret Thatcher’s “the NHS is safe in our hands” to Tony Blair’s “one day to save the NHS”, politicians from all major political parties recognise that the NHS is an acid test of their performance in government. In many ways, of course, political in...

Setting budgets for general practice in the new NHS.

The introduction of unified budgets for primary care groups will have major implications for general practitioners. Key objectives for primary care groups will include greater interpractice working, improved financial and information systems, and methods of sharing data among practices. For many general practitioners, the most unpopular aspect of the changes will be that they will have to take ...

Save Can

This article discusses the possibilities that a deeper engagement with the work of Gabriel Tarde opens for Actor-Network Theory (ANT). It argues that the combination of ANT’s methodological and analytical orientation and Tarde’s neo-monadology offers an appropriate framework for the study of new forms of political activism. Findings from an ethnographic research on the conflict surrounding the ...

Bring Hippocrates to the people and save the NHS.

When Jeremy Hunt decided to take his children to A&E rather than wait for a GP appointment, or indeed, rather than making use of the out-of-hours GP service, he defended his decision with a speech that included an incredibly bleak assessment of the British people. His declaration that people could no longer tell what is urgent and what is not is tantamount to describing the population as a mass...

Borrowing to save: can NHS bodies ease financial pressures by terminating PFI contracts?