The Government's eagerly awaited White Paper on health aroused no great passions when it was launched at the end of 1997. Unlike its predecessor, the 1989 Conservative White Paper "Working for Patients", Labour's "The new NHS" has prompted no battle of words or major health debate. Yet in this, warn the authors of this paper, lies a danger. For as with the 1991 reforms, the NHS that eventually emerges may well be different from the Government's latest blueprint. This review of the White Paper draws on the collective experience and work of the King's Fund. The common theme of all the contributions is that while the aims of the White Paper are to be applauded, translating aspirations into achievement is going to be difficult. With a series of complex changes in the pipeline, this policy paper identifies the issues involved and the problems that will have to be overcome.
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Pagination: 84p.; This publication was written by Michaela Benzeval, Angela Coulter, Steve Gillam, Nick Goodwin, Anthony Harrison, David Knowles, Nicholas Mays, Bill New, Richard Poxton and Janice Robinson.