Originally published in 1977, this book explored some of the major problems besetting the Health Service during the second half of the twentieth century. Now, as then, they offer both historical perspective on contemporary difficulties and invite debate about the future development of health services. The main themes are the medical care system and its organisational structures; the managers and the providers of the system, their tasks and responses; the resources available whether financial, human or material; and finally the consumers and their influence upon the overall direction of the system.

'Overall this book provides a useful window on questions thought to be important by knowledgeable teachers and critics of the NHS...of particular interest are the essays on planning and administration at the local level...' Rosemary Stevens, Tulane University, USA.

Keith Barnard was Deputy Director and Lecturer in Health Planning at the Nuffield Centre for Health Services Studies, University of Leeds, UK. Kenneth Lee was Lecturer in Health Economics at the Nuffield Centre for Health Services Studies, University of Leeds, UK.