title: The health care industry.
abstract: This series of articles is concerned with technological change in industry over the last 20 years, its effect on the health of the worker, and the measures taken by the employer to control any risk arising therefrom. Technological change cannot be viewed in isolation. Although advances in technology and the introduction of new processes are the outward and most visible sign of change in work practices, in most cases it is managerial restructuring, political pressures, and changes in legislation which bring about far greater change and which in the long term may have a greater effect on the health of the worker. No industry illustrates this better than the National Health Service and more recently the rapidly expanding private health care sector.
authors.affiliation: Bath District Health Authority.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Heap
mesh_terms: D006282:Health Personnel; D006801:Humans; D013677:Medical Laboratory Science / Q000639:trends; D009313:National Health Programs; D016272:Occupational Health; D006113:United Kingdom