Market for health care: adding choice in Britain

Choice is having an effect on Britain's National Health Service, the Telegraph reports:
NHS hospital units shunned by patients face closure
NHS hospitals units are facing closure as patients choose to be treated in more successful medical centres, new figures show.

"Patients are now able to choose where they are treated, with many snubbing the traditional visit to their local hospital and opting for units with the best treatment records, facilities and, crucially, cleanliness and infection control.
GPs can also choose where to send their patients. Crucially, hospitals no longer receive a guaranteed block grant and are paid according to the number of patients they treat. "

"The internal market reforms were the source of a bitter struggle within the Labour Government. Tony Blair and Alan Milburn, his Health Secretary, fought against union and backbench opposition to force through many of the changes to the way the NHS was run. "