Focusing on the White Paper, "Working for Patients" (1989) and the NHS reforms, this work analyzes the politics and structure of the NHS and other systems, and theoretical alternatives and health economics. The book outlines the key features of the NHS and the primarily financial problems which created the political controversy in the 1980s. It then discusses the evolution of policy up to the present day and analyzes rival ideas as to how to run the NHS. The author addresses the problems in the NHS which he sees as "an admirable institution, warts and all", and believes that the changes it has undergone have indeed tested its strength. In his view, the major danger of "unplanned markets" is that current trends in policy could reduce the stability and popularity of the British system of health care.