Proceedings of a Symposium held at The Royal College of General Practitioners, London

27 January 1968

MANY of the general public and the medical profession have strong views on the current and possible future shape of medical care. However, all too frequently each group is unaware of the basis or nature of the other’s problem. To bring members of each of these groups together the Office of Health Economics held a Symposium on The Consumer and the Health Service, on Saturday, the 27 January, 1968, at the Royal College of General Practitioners. It was attended not only by General Practitioners and representatives of consumer groups, but also by professional social scientists and social workers and members of the other branches of the medical profession and its auxiliary services.

The Conference had three primary objects; to try to foster an increasing awareness and understanding of the attitudes of different groups, to consider the type of service which might satisfy both consumer wants and clinical needs, and to identify areas requiring further research. In this publication were present the formal papers and some of the ensuing discussion.