The Changing National Health Service, by R. G. S. Brown: Library of Social Policy and Administration (Routledge and Kegan Paul, £2 hardback, 95p paperback) Next year, in response to criticisms which have been made since it was established, the administrative structure of the National Ilealth Service is to be radically altered. It is typical of the uncritical attitude that many take to this country's only major Socialist achievement that this change has prompted hardly any debate outside the ranks of those with a strong professional interest.
This is all the more reason for recommending this excellent and compact book. The sixth chapter has an account of the chanees that are due to take
place. 1-hese are set in their context by the other chapters.
After a brief introduction, Mr. Brown considers the demand for medical care and the resourses of the N.H.S. in buildings, staff and finance. Later chapters look at the problem of protecting the patient against possible mistreatment and some of the issues still facing the service.
Because the case against the old tripartite structure or the N.H.S. has been accepted, Mr. Brown does not spend much time on it. He concentrates more on sonic of the arguments for more direct payment by the majority of patients. He is carefully neutral in presenting the pros and cons of that politically loaded issue.
Peter Baldock