ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some cloing thought on concepts discussed in this book. The professional and political opposition that accompanied the establishment of the National Health Service made it seem likely that it might not survive for 30 years, especially with the change of government in 1951 from Labour to Conservative. The relationship between health status and health care was complex, influenced by social divisions, lay/professional relationships, attitudes towards health and sickness. Brown's study of the reorganisation, he suggested that even if some restructuring is a necessary condition for better management and planning, it is by no means a sufficient condition and he concluded that perhaps it is often better to live with some disadvantages than to incur costs of major change to secure improvements that may turn out to be illusory. Abel-Smith reminded us of the parallels with the organisational arrangements put in place in 1948 noting that, once again, what eventually emerged was inevitably a compromise between conflicting interests.
