the death of the english national health service (nhs) may be slow in coming but that does not mean that it is not the conservative-led uk government’s desired end state. the government is displaying tactical cunning in achieving its long-term purpose to remould the british state. powell seeks greater clarity amidst the confusion but the lack of clarity is a principal weapon in the government’s...

this commentary explores some of the issues raised by gilbert et al.short communication, morality and markets in the nhs. the increasing role of market mechanisms and the changing types of healthcare providers together with the use of choice and competition to drive improvements in quality in the national health service (nhs), all have important ethical implications. in order for the nhs to con...

this is a commentary on gilbert and colleagues’ (1) paper on morality and markets in the national health service (nhs). morality and values are not ephemeral qualities and universal healthcare is not simply an aspiration; it has to be enshrined in law. the creation of the uk nhs in 1948 was underpinned by core legal duties which required a system of public funding and delivery to follow. the mo...

Despite fiscal stress, public confidence in the National Health Service (NHS) remains strong; privatisation has not hollowed out the service. But if long term challenges are to be overcome, pragmatism not rhetoric should be the guide.

Martin Powell makes the point that the death of the National Health Service (NHS) is constantly asserted without criteria. This article suggests that the NHS is many things, which makes criteria unstable. The alignment of interests in the structure of the NHS enables both overheated rhetoric and political strength, and that pluralization of provision might actually undermine that alignment over...

the article by brenna and spandonaro on interregional mobility for acute hospital care in italy raises important issues concerning social and territorial equity in a healthcare system. based on regions and private providers’ strategic behavior, the hypothesis adopted to explain patient cross-border mobility (cbm), demonstrated by statistical analysis, may be further explored using qualitative m...

the paper by gilbert et al. should be on the table of every politician and national health service (nhs) manager in the run up to the general election, when the nhs is at the hustings. they have raised profound moral dilemmas of the internal and external market in their present form, such as the practicalities of distributive justice and the enhancement of autonomy – to which are added the pres...

Martin Powell suggests that the death of the English National Health Service (NHS) has been announced so many times we are at risk of not noticing should it actually happen. He is right. If we ‘cry wolf’ too many times, we risk losing sight of what is important about the NHS and why.

background in recent years, accreditation of private hospitals followed by decentralisation of the italian national health service (nhs) into 21 regional health systems has provided a good empirical ground for investigating the tiebout principle of “voting with their feet”. we examine the infra-regional trade-off between greater patient choice (due to an increase in hospital services supply) an...

This commentary explores some of the issues raised by Gilbert et al.short communication, Morality and Markets in the NHS. The increasing role of market mechanisms and the changing types of healthcare providers together with the use of choice and competition to drive improvements in quality in the National Health Service (NHS), all have important ethical implications. In order for the NHS to con...