The need to wait for health care has been a feature of the NHS since its inception. When Labour came to power in 1997, total numbers of patients waiting stood at 1.3 million: the highest since the NHS began in 1948. The government announced its 'war on waiting' and pledged ...
This is a piece of independent research conducted by the authors at the King's Fund based on a Pfizer initiative. and Extending patient choice is central to the government's reform of the NHS. Patients will be offered a choice of hospitals for planned operations from December 2005 and will soon be offered choice in other areas of health care. This paper presents the key findings from ten focus groups held to ...