This is the first in a series of 17 papers which were prepared during the life of the Royal Commission on the National Health Service. The paper is an analysis of the evidence submitted to the Royal Commission on the NHS 1976-1979, demonstrating some of the problems and difficulties with which the members of the Commission were faced. It reveals the wide range of complex problems to be considered and the conflicting views about the cause and resolution of these problems amongst bodies representing NHS workers and other agencies concerned with the NHS.