BACKGROUND In 2004, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) recommended that an elective caesarean section for an uncomplicated pregnancy should not be carried out before 39 completed weeks due to increased risk of respiratory morbidity in newborns. We describe the trends and variation across 63 English NHS trusts in the timing of elective caesarean section (CS) for low-risk singl...

The plan for the NHS in Scotland mapped out in the white paper Designed to Care shares common values and goals with the plans for England and Wales. The organisational structures proposed to underpin Scotland’s strategy for the health service (box) are, however, substantively different from those proposed for England and Wales. Primary care trusts are new statutory organisations scheduled to go...