TY - JOUR T1 - The end of the NHS? JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract SP - 229 LP - 229 DO - 10.3399/bjgp11X561410 VL - 61 IS - 584 AU - Mike Fitzpatrick Y1 - 2011/03/01 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/61/584/229.abstract N2 - ‘What do you call a man who ignores medical advice? Mr Clarke’.1 It is more than 20 years since the BMA tried to rally public opinion against Ken Clarke, then Mrs Thatcher's health minister, pushing through plans to introduce the internal market, hospital trusts and GP fundholding. The BMA's pompous ‘doctor knows best’ slogan was a spectacular flop and the Conservatives' market reforms were imposed on a divided medical profession and a largely indifferent electorate. Although the public lacked much enthusiasm for the reforms, people were also fed up with being patronised by doctors and taken for granted by public sector … ER -