Family interventions in schizophrenia

may reflect less the health care policies or ideology of a particular government than the fact that society has become more polarised.Just as the NHS was born in 1948, when inequalities in income were diminishing, so the new tensions have made themselves evident at a time of increasing inequali- ties.It may therefore be overoptimistic to expect that the NHS can be used as a kind of institutional glue for society, symbolising mutual support, unless this is part of a wider change of direction.Similarly, it may be unrealistic to hope that future changes in policy can be negotiated rather than imposed if the present system of adversarial politics persists.If achieving change through consensus is the aim, constitutional reforms like proportional representation may be the necessary means.In short, health policies inescapably raise questions about the nature of our society and our political system.