bmj.com -- Press Releases

Press Releases Saturday 1 May 1999
No 7192 Volume 318

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On 6 May 1999 the first step of the devolution process in the
UK will occur when Scotland and Wales elect their new
assemblies. This week's BMJ takes an international look at the
implications devolution has for healthcare systems.

(1) WHAT WILL BE THE IMPACT OF DEVOLUTION ON
HEALTHCARE?

(2) THE MEDIA MUST LOOK BEYOND LONDON WHEN
REFERRING TO THE UK

(1) WHAT WILL BE THE IMPACT OF DEVOLUTION ON
HEALTHCARE?

(Devolution and health: challenges for Scotland and Wales)
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/318/7192/1195

In an Education and Debate paper in this week's BMJ Professor
Allyson Pollock from University College London provides an
overview of the changes devolution will bring to the political
structure in Scotland and Wales and what the process could
mean for healthcare funding. In particular Pollock examines how
the assemblies face major challenges in tackling socioeconomic
and health inequalities in Scotland and Wales.

Contact:

Professor Allyson Pollock, Health Policy and Health Services
Research Unit, School of Public Policy, University College
London

(2) THE MEDIA MUST LOOK BEYOND LONDON WHEN
REFERRING TO THE UK

(BMJ should stop confusing its readers over national differences)
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/318/7192/1221

In a Personal View in this week's BMJ Arthur Morris attacks the
London-based media, including the BMJ, for confusing readers
and viewers about the differences between the four countries of
the United Kingdom. Mr Morris, who is the chairman of the
British Medical Association's Scottish Council and a consultant
plastic surgeon in Dundee, says that as devolution occurs "it is
time for them [the media] to do better".

Mr Morris complains that the terms UK, Britain and England are
often used incorrectly by the media and that there is a tendency
to report English affairs as if they cover the whole of the UK. As
well as citing examples where the BMJ has got it wrong he
singles out the BBC's Radio Four Today programme for one of
its reports: "Tests have shown the Post Office is not fulfilling its
requirement for next day delivery of first class mail....and we are
not just talking about remote areas such as the Shetlands and
Northern Ireland, but also closer to home in north London."

Morris mentions several examples of cases that have caused
confusion, including the creation of NICE (the National Institute
for Clinical Excellence) which has been reported as covering the
whole of the UK, when in fact it only covers England and Wales.
He says that devolution is one of the catalysts for change that
makes such mistakes "increasingly irritating and important" and
challenges the media (including the medical media) to report facts
more accurately.

Contact:

Mr Arthur Morris, Chairman, BMA Scottish Council, Edinburgh
and Consultant Plastic Surgeon, Dundee

FOR ACCREDITED JOURNALISTS

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