Read the text and answer the questions

1. What is health care?

2. What way is health care provided in most developed and develop­ing countries?

3. Is general taxation the only financing source for the NHS?

4. What are the main NHS priorities?

5. How is NHS work controlled?

6. What organization is responsible for primary care administration?

Health care is prevention, treatment, and management of illness and preservation of mental health through the services offered by medi­cal, nursing, and allied health professions. Health care embraces all the goods and services designed to promote health, including "preventive, curative and palliative interventions, whether directed to individuals or to populations". The organized provision of such services may consti­tute a health care system. This can include specific Health Service or cooperation across the National Health Service and Social Services as in Shared Care. Before the term "health care" became popular, Eng­lish-speakers referred to medicine or to the health sector and spoke of the treatment and prevention of illness and disease.

In most developed countries and many developing countries health care is provided to everyone regardless of their ability to pay. The National Health Service, established in 1948 by Clement Atlee's La­bour government in the United Kingdom, was the world's first univer­sal health care system provided by government and paid for from general taxation.

The main aims of the NHS are:

• To provide a universal service for all based on clinical need, not ability to pay.

• To provide a comprehensive range of services.

• To respond to the different needs of different populations.

• To work continuously to improve the quality of services and to minimize errors.

• To use public funds for health care devoted solely to NHS patients.

• To help to keep people healthy and work to reduce health inequalities.

• To respect the confidentiality of individual patients and pro­vide open access to information about services, treatment and perfor­mance.

The NHS in England is controlled by the UK government through the Department of Health, which takes political responsibility for the service. The DH controls ten Strategic Health Authorities (SHAs), which oversee all NHS operations, particularly the Primary Care Trust, in their area. There are several types of NHS trusts:

• Primary Care Trusts (PCTs), which administrate primary care and public health. On 1 October 2006 the number of PCTs was reduced from 303 to 152 in an attempt to bring services closer to­gether and cut costs. These oversee 29,000 GPs and 18,000 NHS dentists. In addition, they commission acute services from other NHS Trusts and the private sector, provide primary care in their locations, and oversee such matters as primary and secondary prevention, vac­cination administration and control of epidemics. PCTs control 80 per cent of the total NHS budget.

• NHS Hospital Trusts. 290 organizations administer hospitals, treatment centers and specialists care in about 1,600 NHS hospitals.

• NHS Ambulance Services Trusts.

• NHS Care Trusts.

• NHS Mental Health Trusts.

• NHS Direct Trust provides telephone and online support ser­vices.

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