OBJECTIVE To identify and describe the current state of clinical ethics support services in the UK. DESIGN A series of questionnaire surveys of key individuals in National Health Service (NHS) trusts, health authorities, health boards, local research ethics committees and health professional organisations. Interviews with chairmen/women of clinical ethics committees identified in the surveys....

BACKGROUND National Health Service (NHS) occupational health departments assist in the identification and assessment of substance-use disorders among health care workers (HCWs) and are involved in the management of an individual's return to work after treatment. AIMS To determine the experience and training of NHS occupational health physicians (OHPs) in identifying substance misuse among HCW...

Background: In the United Kingdom patient experience is being established as a key determinant in informing commissioning decisions and in shaping healthcare delivery. This led to the publication of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidance on patient experience in adult National Health Service (NHS) services: improving the experience of care for people using adu...

The paper “Regional incentives and patient cross-border mobility” received three commentaries, each adopting a different perspective on patients’ mobility issue. Starting with Neri,1 the author deeply examines the paper, by considering and commenting each step of the analysis. He notably addresses the main points of the manuscript, highlighting the importance of the institutional framework in w...

Unlike the managerially oriented reforms that have brought auditing and accounting into such prominence in the UK National Health Service (NHS), and which seem alien to the culture of the caring professions, consumerist reforms may seem to complement moves towards the acceptance of wide definitions of health, and towards increasing patient autonomy. The empowerment favoured by those who support...

national health information network (nhin) is a network in which all health care organizations, government agencies and other health-related organizations are connected to each other to exchange information about health. due to the necessity of a framework for nhin development, in this paper, according to the literature review, a definition for nhin framework was provided, and then the nhin rel...

Introduction This paper summarises a series of interlinked systematic reviews carried out to inform guidance on commissioning cancer services published by the National Health Service (NHS) Executive. These formed the basis of an EVective Health Care bulletin, Vol 4, No 3. Information on the review process, including the specific questions considered, is given in Improving outcomes in lung cance...

In matters of NHS funding, politicians tend to say one thing and health economists another. Governments commit themselves to the Hippocratic ethic that patients should be treated solely on the basis of need. But economic reality has always required us to make hard choices between deserving patients. Today we require a legal dimension to this tension. This article examines the general practition...

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 co...