I. Greener, "The ghost of health services past" revisited: Comparing British health policy of the 1950s with the 1980s and 1990s, INT J HE SE, 31(3), 2001, pp. 635-646
It has been argued repeatedly that British health policy in the 1990s had a
number of similarities with that of the 1930s. This article, while accepti
ng that a comparison of these two periods may be useful, argues that compar
ing policy in the 1950s with that in the 1980s and 1990s is even more illum
inating. To demonstrate this the author outlines first the similarities in
policy between the early and later periods, then the differences, and the e
vents that led to each. These comparisons suggest that there is evidence of
path dependency in British health policy, and although the United Kingdom
appeared to break away from the policy path for a short time in the late 19
80s, the changes proposed then do not appear to have been as radical as fir
st suggested. Many of the issues highlighted in the 1950s seem to remain un
resolved today.