Summary Leagues of Friends are charities that provide ‘personal service to patients’ and ‘supply hospitals with equipment not likely come from the budgeting authorities’. Hundreds continue exist, many trace their origins before NHS’s foundation in 1948. Despite rich growing historiographies voluntarism NHS, have received little attention. This article uses case studies English West Midlands sho...

This commentary explores some of the issues raised by Gilbert et al.short communication, Morality and Markets in the NHS. The increasing role of market mechanisms and the changing types of healthcare providers together with the use of choice and competition to drive improvements in quality in the National Health Service (NHS), all have important ethical implications. In order for the NHS to con...

In this research, gelatin nanoparticles were synthesized via inverse miniemulsion method by employing a mixture of a water soluble carbodiimide (CDI) and N-hydroxysuccinimide (NHS) as a non-toxic cross-linking system. The gelatin nanoparticles were characterized for their size and size distribution, morphology and stability and were compared with those of nanoparticles cross-linked by glutarald...

BACKGROUND The UK National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has published guidance for employers on promoting mental wellbeing. A national audit in 2011 found wide variation between English National Health Service (NHS) trusts (organizations providing health care) in the implementation of this guidance, but it is not known whether fuller compliance with the guidance results i...

We investigate the effect on quality of three high-volume non-emergency treatments a reform that relaxed restrictions patient choice hospital. employ quasi difference-in-difference strategy and use control functions allowing for selection into providers correlated with unobserved morbidity. Public hospitals facing more rivals reduced quality, increased waiting times, length stay hip knee replac...

INTRODUCTION High and equitable coverage of systematic cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention programmes, such as the NHS Health Check programme in England, is essential if they are to effectively reduce the population CVD burden. METHODS We conducted a cross-sectional study using data from 151 English primary care trusts (PCTs) on NHS Health Check coverage during 2011-12. We examined the as...

BACKGROUND Chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME), in its most severe clinical presentation, can result in patients becoming housebound and bedbound so unable to access most available specialist services. This presents particular clinical risks and treatment needs for which the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) advises specialist medical care and moni...

BACKGROUND Hospital mortality rates are one of the most frequently selected indicators for measuring the performance of NHS Trusts. A recent article in a national newspaper named the hospital with the highest or lowest mortality in the 2005/6 financial year; a report by the organization Dr Foster Intelligence provided information with regard to the performance of all NHS Trusts in England. ME...