Care of the Aged: An English Lesson?

Abstract

A comparison of the services provided for the elderly in Great Britain and the United States shows the impact that organized medical care has on day-to-day clinical activities. The British have made many advances in geriatrics despite multiple problems that can often be traced to the three-part administrative structure of the National Health Service (NHS). The recent debate on the design of a new NHS administration raises questions that should concern Americans. Institutions designed to pay for and monitor health care need the flexibility and sensitivity to respond to innovations in the rapidly changing and very personal field of medical science. Issues such as the mechanisms for control both by consumers and providers should be considered when evaluating the many health care bills now before the United States Congress.