The UK National Health Service and the national health: 1948-98

The question of whether medical care is an important influence on the health of populations has produced considerable debate. Progressive commentators have advanced the apparently paradoxical view that health services are a relatively minor determinant of health, but that health care provision guaranteed by the state is an important goal. The 50th anniversary of the U. K. National Health Service provides the basis for a brief review of a half century of discussion of these issues in the British context.