The NHS and private health care

The funding and organisation of health care in the United Kingdom has never been far from the political agenda since the inception of the National Health Services (1948). One of the focuses of debate which has recurred over the years has been the privaitsation of health care and the extent to which it has been challenged for "undermined" the NHS. Privitisation has taken a number of different forms. There has always been some form of private health care sector alongside the NHS, although its size has varied according to political, social and economic circumstances. The aim of this article is to examine the relationship between the NHS and the private health care sector and what impact, if any, changes in one sector have had on the other. However, before these analytical questions are considered, it is important to see the private health care sector in the context of overall health care provision in the United Kingdom and particularly to identify its extent and nature as well as any recent changes in its shape.