ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at a series of current issues and themes in the National Health Service (NHS). Britain’s NHS finally came into being in 1948 as a result of legislation passed in 1946, being the end-product of an evolutionary process. The White Paper set out the principles behind New Labour’s plans for the NHS which are to renew the service, making it a genuinely national service, to encourage renewed public confidence and to guarantee excellence. Rationing of service has been a controversial feature of the NHS for many years; some would argue that it has been intrinsic and inevitable since the service started. NHS waiting lists have been, for some years, the chosen effectiveness marker of successive governments. A cynical view would suggest that governments choose the numerical option because it is relatively easy to provide additional finance for certain simple treatments and, thus, reduce dramatically the numbers on waiting lists.
