ABSTRACT
At the launch of the National Health Service (NHS), the problems had been to find a secure basis for hospital planning and finance and also to improve the distribution of facilities throughout the country. The tripartite structure was not a bad solution to these problems. Particular attention needs to be paid to three matters when seeking to improve the workings of the NHS. These are: ownership, customers and facilities. The management of the larger outfits, such as hospital Trusts and community care institutions, needs to be reviewed, otherwise the NHS will never be able to achieve its full potential. An NHS user may obtain medical care from one of three separate and independent 'outlets' or sectors: general practice, hospital care and community care. To rectify the situation, consultants and general practitioner need to come together to provide services on a rational basis in order to satisfy the demands for medical care.
