No 7150 Volume 317

Press Releases Saturday 4 July 1998

(1) HOME SAMPLES MAY HELP REDUCE PREVALENCE OF CHLAMYDIA

(2) ARTICLES MARKING THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE NHS



(1) HOME SAMPLES MAY HELP REDUCE PREVALENCE OF CHLAMYDIA

(Efficacy of home sampling for screening of Chlamydia trachomatis:
randomised study)
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/317/7150/26

Urogenital infections caused by Chlamydia are common and may cause female
infertility and ectopic pregnancy.  These infections are very treatable but
as Chlamydia often causes no symptoms, they may remain undetected.  In this
week's BMJ, Dr Lars Ostergaard et al from Denmark suggest that if patients
can collect a sample themselves at home (rather than seeing a doctor) and
mail it directly to a laboratory, then this may result in improved
screening rates and thus more infections being detected.

Contact:
Dr Lars Ostergaard, Senior Registrar, Department of Infectious Diseases,
Aarhus University, Denmark
email: segalt{at}dadlnet.dk


(2) ARTICLES MARKING THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE NHS

This week's BMJ contains a number of papers regarding the 50th anniversary
of the NHS: some looking back over the service; some commenting on where it
is now; whilst others postulate where the NHS might be in the future.....

(Clinical governance and the drive for quality improvement in the new NHS
in England)
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/317/7150/61

Gabriel Scally and Liam Donaldson, both Regional Directors for the NHS
Executive, explain the meaning of one of the new health sector buzz words
in the UK: "clinical governance".  They describe the background to the
concept and comment on how they think it could be integrated into the
health service. The authors define clinical governance as "....a system
through which NHS organisations are accountable for continuously improving
the quality of their services and safeguarding high standards of care by
creating an environment in which excellence in clinical care will
flourish."
Contact:
Dr Gabriel Scally, Regional Director of Public Health, NHS Executive (South
and West), Westwood House, Lime Kiln Close, Stoke Gifford, Bristol
email: gscally{at}doh.gov.uk
 
(The Bevan legacy)
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/317/7150/37

Former Tory cabinet minister, Michael Portillo, looks back over the life of
the NHS and what he perceives as the true role of the NHS champion
Aneurin Bevan.  Portillo looks at the politicisation of the NHS and pays
particular attention to the perennial challenge of funding Britain's
healthcare system.
Contact:
Michael Portillo, Cabinet Minister, Conservative Government 1992-7, London
c/o Alison Broom
email: mportillo{at}kmg.com
 
(Looking forward.  The NHS:  feeling well and thriving at 75)
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/317/7150/57

Whoopie Goldberg is the President of the United States; Lord (Anthony)
Blair is recovering from his cataract operation and laser surgery has been
performed remotely, at the European Union's colony on the moon under the
control of a world class surgeon in Manchester!   This is the world in 2023
according to Donald Berwick, of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement,
USA in this week's BMJ.  Berwick takes his crystal ball and describes the
governing principles of the NHS (which is thriving at 75 years of age),
known as  the "Langlands Eight" concluding that in 2048, the NHS will still
be well on track, having made some important corrections along the way.....
Contact:
Donald Berwick, Chief Executive Officer, Institute for Healthcare
Improvement, 135 Francis Street, Boston, MA, USA
 
(As I recall)
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/317/7150/40

David Morrell, a retired professor of general practice, traces the
evolution of this area of medicine within the NHS from his own personal
perspective.
Contact:
David Morrell, 14 Higher Green, Epsom, Surrey
 
(The BMA and the NHS)
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/317/7150/45

Charles Webster is the official historian of the NHS and in this week's BMJ
he details the relationship between the BMA and the NHS since its inception
in 1948, concluding that for the first time this century the BMA and
government have established most of the necessary conditions for a working
partnership.  If this could be consolidated, the NHS looks set to approach
the millennium in a better spirit of harmony than has existed in its entire
existence.
Contact:
Charles Webster, Senior Research Fellow, All Souls College, University of
Oxford, Oxford

(Views from abroad.  A rational bureaucracy in a civilised society)
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/317/7150/48

Christian Koeck from Austria provides a perspective of the NHS from outside
the UK.  He writes that the average Austrian doctor thinks of an NHS of
inhumane rationing and exclusion of elderly and very sick people from the
benefits of modern healthcare and yet health economists see the NHS as a
successful attempt to deliver a scarce resource in a rational, communal and
civilised way.
Contact:
Christian Koeck, President, Koeck, Ebner and Partners, Vienna, Austria
email: ckoeck{at}compuserve.com
 
(Will the fudge on equity sustain the NHS into the next millennium?)
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/317/7150/66

Nicholas Mays, Director of the Health Systems Programme at the King's Fund
and Justin Keen from the Department of Government at Brunel University,
write that the advent of the NHS did not lead to the abolition of private
finance for, or the private provision of, health care in the UK.  They say
that private sector contributions to healthcare have risen steadily since
the end of the 1960s and conclude that alternatives to the NHS which
involve a larger share of private financing would require complex
regulation and would be less equitable than the current service.
Contact:
Mr Nicholas Mays, Director, Health Systems Programme, King's Fund, London
email: N.Mays{at}kehf.org.uk
 
(Change and resistance to change in the NHS)
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/317/7150/69

Despite considerable structural change and numerous attempts at reform,
the underlying nature of the NHS has remained remarkably stable, says Diane
Plamping from the King's Fund in this week's BMJ.  She suggests that this
can be explained by the stability of the guiding principles that shape the
behaviour of the NHS, and that these are now inappropriate and reducing the
NHS's ability to adapt.
Contact:
Diane Plamping, Codirector, Urban Health Partnership, Primary Care Group,
King's Fund, London
email: wws{at}dial.pipex.com

(The jewel in welfare's crown.  The NHS will glisten if it retains middle
class support)
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/317/7150/2
Contact:
Nicholas Timmins, Public Policy Editor, Financial Times, 1 Horseshoe Court,
London
 
(Our feet set on a new path entirely.  To the transformation of primary
care and partnership with patients)
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/317/7150/1
Contact:
Dr Julian Tudor Hart, Retired General Practitioner, Swansea
 
(Imagining futures for the NHS.  Familiar institutions might be revamped
and strong)
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/317/7150/3
Contact:
Dr Richard Smith, Editor, BMJ
email:  jshepher{at}bma.org.uk
 
(On the ways to Calvary.  Ministers should realise the command and control
model the white paper entails)
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/317/7150/5
Contact:
Professor Rudolf Klein, Centre for the Analysis of Social Policy,
University of Bath, Bath
email:  R.E.Klein{at}bath.ac.uk
or
Professor Alan Maynard, Health Economics Consortium, University of York,
York
email: akm3{at}york.ac.uk
 
 

FOR ACCREDITED JOURNALISTS

Embargoed press releases:
These are available from:
Public Affairs Division
BMA House
Tavistock Square
London WC1H 9JR
(contact Jill Shepherd;jshepher{at}bma.org.uk)
 
and from:
the EurekAlert website, run by the American Association for the
Advancement of Science (http://www.eurekalert.org)
 
Please remember to credit the BMJ as source when publicising an article
and to inform your readers that they can read its full text on the
journal's web site (http://www.bmj.com).
 

Access jobs at BMJ Careers
Whats new online at Student BMJ