Health: Doctors see little future for NHS

More than three-quarters of doctors are pessimistic about the future of the NHS, according to a survey. As the NHS enters its 50th anniversary year, almost 90 per cent of GPs and 74 per cent of hospital doctors think that a true National Health Service will not exist in 50 years' time.

The survey of more than 150 hospital doctors and 100 GPs by the British Medical Association News Review also found that the majority of doctors thought that the founding principles of the NHS - a comprehensive service, free at point of delivery and paid for by taxation - had been eroded during the past 50 years.