Doctors, Public Service and Profit: General Practitioners and the National Health Service

1990 ◽  
Vol 40 ◽  
pp. 197-216
Author(s):  
Charles Webster

GENERAL medical practitioners are a dominant element within the medical workforce. They are the largest specialism, currently accounting for about two-thirds of the senior medical personnel employed by the National Health Service (NHS). They exert a strong political influence by virtue of their importance in the British Medical Association (BMA) and its complicated representative and negotiating machinery.

Author(s):  
Karen Lury

This chapter illustrates how the BBC’s Children in Need telethon is informed and legitimated by different currency models as part of its aesthetic strategy. It demonstrates how these televisual currencies may be directly aligned with other kinds of medical currency models emerging within the economy of the UK’s National Health Service. Through close textual analysis of the programme and a related analysis of medical currency models proposed and piloted in relation to the NHS, it is argued that the ‘aestheticization’ of currency models provided by the programme reflects an ideological shift in the representation of medical care on public service television, in line with the ideology of neoliberalism and the incremental colonization of ‘financialization’ into all aspects of contemporary society.


2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (9) ◽  
pp. 642
Author(s):  
Joana Guimarães ◽  
António Afonso ◽  
Davide Carvalho ◽  
Ana Paula Marques ◽  
Teresa Martins ◽  
...  

Introduction: On September 2016, the Board of the College of Endocrinology and Nutrition of the Portuguese Medical Association carried out a national survey, about all Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism Departments of the public hospitals included in the Portuguese National Health Service and a simplified version of this survey was sent to all endocrinologists working in Portugal and registered with the Portuguese Medical Association.Material and Methods: Data related to organizational and human resources were collected, reporting the situation by the end of year 2015. The census registered 107 individuals and 27 Departments.Results: The ratio of endocrinologists-population was 1.4, much lower than in the other European countries (varies between 2 to 4), resulting in alarming shortages of services in some areas of Portugal and in worse quality indicators.Discussion: These data suggest that actions should be taken to increase the number of endocrinologists and departments in the country.Conclusion: In recent years, the number of residents has significantly increased, which will make it possible to correct this situation.


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