Anaesthetists practising individually may yet have at least some of their own equipment. This may be purchased second-hand from other anaesthetists, either via word of mouth or advertisements in professional journals. A considerable amount of private work is available to anaesthetists with respect to dental anaesthesia. About 400,000 dental operations involving general anaesthesia occur each year in the National Health Service alone. Proposals for a radical overhaul of the system are now being considered. In the meantime it is clear that anaesthetists will increasingly have little interest in such work, other than as a means of establishing a professional relationship with local dentists through whom they may expect to inherit a volume of private cases. Obstetrics is unusual among acute specialists in that demand for private specialist services is unrelated to waiting-lists. Obstetrics is also unusual in that it is not provided for by health insurance.