Change in the British National Health Service.

The most dramatic changes in the British National Health Service since its inception are underway. These changes place new responsibilities on general practice and create new opportunities to expand and develop general practice. Market strategies are important in these changes and could result in a system that adopts aspects of the US health care system. There is disagreement within the United Kingdom about the need for and wisdom of these changes. This paper partially describes these changes for hospitals and general practice. Family physicians in the United States can learn valuable lessons by monitoring the progress of this grand social experiment.