ABSTRACT
The announcement in 1996 by the health secretary of yet another review of primary care led to the author’s commenting that it was merely a 'device to get doctors off the Government's backs'. Elections were also to be held for the Council of the British Medical Association (BMA). In 1989–1990 the Labour Party and the BMA had fought against the internal market, and had rightly condemned the Tory idea of Private Finance Initiative (PFI), with the private sector providing facilities which the National Health Service (NHS) would use. The Administration regurgitated PFIs as Public Private Partnerships. However governments – Labour and Tory – have introduced countless radical changes in the NHS without proper evaluation, merely to meet timetables and political objectives and in the process have paid lip service to patients' needs and choices and avoided proper consultation.
