A useful and accessible survey of changes in British health, health services and health policy in the years during and since World War II. Examining the rise and decline of the NHS, Virginia Berridge presents students with an authoritative analysis.
British health policy has undergone radical change in the postwar period and Virginia Berridge provides here a concise and accessible survey of these changes since 1939. While the rise, and recent decline, of the NHS is examined in detail, this book also looks at the changes in the role of doctors and associated medical professions, and the recent emphasis on "health promotion" and "primary care." Also considered are the role that lay people, especially women, play in providing health care, and the transition of the individual from "patient" to "consumer."
