Some Thoughts upon the Discontents of the British General Practitioner

SINCE my arrival in the United States approximately eighteen months ago, I have frequently been asked for my views upon the British system of "socialized medicine." This in itself, of course, was no surprise, but I have been increasingly impressed during my discussions by the many erroneous notions held by seemingly well informed persons, both colleagues and lay friends. There is frequently a suggestion that the recent problems of the British general practitioner, amply covered in the American press, are entirely a product of the National Health Service and, further, that if the Service had not been introduced eighteen years . . .