ABSTRACT
The British health care system could be a smooth, seamless range of services, with diagnosis and monitoring, emergency care and major surgery, community services and public health all linked into a computerized system. Local environmental, educational, trade, industrial, transport and health bodies could be linked in with the National Health Service (NHS) to allow general health advisers (GHAs) to work alongside them in providing advice and support on how to live healthily and on how to keep yourself the right side of targets like those set out in 'Health of the Nation'. A NHS amounts to more than 'elective' surgery for long-term conditions such as arthritis. Finally, this chapter also presents an outline of this book. The book looks at the issue of medical autonomy, arguing that the series of reforms has done little to bring any accountability into the system.
