OBJECTIVES To measure the impact of the urgent care telephone service NHS 111 on the emergency and urgent care system. DESIGN Controlled before and after study using routine data. SETTING Four pilot sites and three control sites covering a total population of 3.6 million in England, UK. PARTICIPANTS AND DATA Routine data on 36 months of use of emergency ambulance service calls and inciden...

British Committee for Standards in Haematology C. Milkins,1 J. Berryman,2 C. Cantwell,3 C. Elliott,4 R. Haggas,5 J. Jones,6 M. Rowley,3,7 M. Williams8 & N. Win9 1UK NEQAS (BTLP), West Herts Hospitals NHS Trust, Watford, UK, 2Department of Blood Transfusion, University College London Hospitals, NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK, 3Department of Blood Transfusion, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Tr...

OBJECTIVES To describe a family in which it was possible to perform prenatal diagnosis of Nance-Horan Syndrome (NHS). METHODS The fetus was evaluated by 2nd trimester ultrasound. The family underwent genetic counseling and ophthalmologic evaluation. The NHS gene was sequenced. RESULTS Ultrasound demonstrated fetal bilateral congenital cataract. Clinical evaluation revealed other family memb...

BACKGROUND The use of the private sector for health care is increasing, but it is unclear whether this will reduce demand on the NHS. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between private and NHS outpatient referral rates accounting for their association with deprivation. METHODS This is a prospective survey of general practitioner referrals to private and NHS consultant-led s...

The UK Government’s centrepiece for reforming the National Health Service (NHS) is set out in The NHS Plan (Department of Health, 2000). The document provides an outline for a paradigm shift from a centralized, bureaucratically controlled NHS to a devolved patient-centred health care service, underpinned by an increase in spending over the next five years. The redesign of the NHS is reinforced ...

This article explores five strong beliefs, or myths, held by Americans about the British National Health Service: (1) the NHS is socialized medicine; (2) widespread rationing occurs; (3) NHS patients have to face long waiting times; (4) the NHS does not offer free choice of provider; and (5) private medicine is taking over. The authors explore how ethnocentricity and American values have shaped...