title: NHS reform. A cause for celebration?
abstract: The NHS plan attracted unprecedented support among opinion formers, which persists. It was the first time in the history of the NHS that a government set out a 10-year blueprint. The plan was wise to choose a populist starting point. Strategic health authorities need to tackle the long-standing problem of every town maintaining a district general hospital. The plan's piecemeal proposals for older people failed to address the task of providing high-quality care for this group.
authors.affiliation: Manchester Centre for Healthcare Management, Manchester University.
authors.forename: Joan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Higgins
mesh_terms: D018166:Health Care Reform; D006779:Hospitals, Public / Q000458:organization & administration; D009936:Organizational Innovation; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D013222:State Medicine / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006113:United Kingdom