The market for medicine. Essay review.

An applicant for admission to a medical school who was asked why he wanted to be a doctor, replied: "It's an interesting job and the money's good". Tired of applicants who said they "felt it was a vocation", "wanted to help people" or "do good", the committee instantly accepted him, for he was a realist. Doctors in Britain may grumble that they are overworked or hate the new market-oriented National Health Service, but it is still an interesting and well paid occupation. Moreover, today doctors in Britain are equally well paid whether their patients are poor or wealthy, and there has been a great levelling out of medical incomes. Although there are some consultants who make very large incomes through the merit award system combined with private practice, on the whole the differential between general practitioners' incomes and consultants' is small, and certainly much smaller than it used to be. How does this compare with the past? Anne Digby has shown elsewhere that the introduction of National Health Insurance in 1911 led to a marked change in general practice by providing a higher and above all a secure level of income. Here, in this marvellously thorough and lucid work that is an outstanding contribution to the history of the medical profession, she goes back in time to explore the economic aspects of medical practice from 1720 to 1911.