NHS managers have been challenged to face head on the danger to rural areas posed by increasing specialisation and centralisation of services.At a Rural Health Forum conference in Warwickshire, delegates were told that the needs of rural areas could be compromised by current trends in the NHS.
According to a recent survey 83 per cent of rural parishes in England have no resident GP, 91 per cent have no dentist, and 89 per cent no independent pharmacy. 

The Department of Health is to review how it can better support the fledgling level of consultation being introduced in primary care.Health Minister John Denham has told the NHS Alliance that the Department of Health will look at its work programmes on patient and public involvement and provide better targeted support to front-line clinicians as they involve the public in the delivery of local services. 

by Arun Maira and Peter B. Scott-MorganPeople are any organization’s principal enablers or disablers of change. Not processes. Not technology. That’s the uncomplicated - some would say radical - premise at the heart of this book. And it will show you how pragmatically embracing the human face of change not only generates results and improves performance but also builds an accelerating organization that thrives in a world in which rapid and unpredictable change has become the norm.