Modernising the British National Health Service (NHS) - some ideological and policy considerations

The British National Health Service (NHS) is undergoing a seemingly unprecedented reorganization. The present Government is attempting to modernize a system of care that has been relatively unchanged for over 50 years amid a great deal of its own publicity about its achievements. This paper begins by briefly examining the ideological basis of these reforms. It proceeds to interrogate the rationale for current health policy from the perspective of the Government. It then analyses the arguments of the detractors who oppose the form these changes are taking. The paper concludes that modernization of the NHS is mainly cosmetic but its significance concerns the stimulation of a broader and radical debate about the future funding and delivery of health care in Britain.