Feasible Socialism
The National Health Service past, present and future
ISBN 0 900678 24X
Socialist Health Association 1994
“Despite being given free to the whole population according to need, by doctors and nurses with little idea of what anything cost, the NHS provided more cost-effective public service than any of its fee-paid or insurance-based international competitors. We discovered a cash-free economy which was both popular and effective.”
Contents
Part one: The past
Origins of the National Health Service
From all according to their ability, to all according to their need
Underprovision and oversale
Choking their mouths with power
Part two: The present
Consumerism, science, and the language of production
Primary care: potential wealth, actual poverty
Managed competition
Who cares?
Part three: The future
Professional accountability: who to, what for?
Purchasers, providers, and the future of clinical autonomy
Participative democracy
Feasible Socialism
International Association of Health Policy 