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The article discusses the annual performance rating system used for Great Britain's National Health Service trusts and whether targets have improved due to its administration. Reported performance shows improvement on key targets though it is suggested that manipulation of data was practiced to achieve some of these targets. Measures to prevent gaming are considered. INSET: Summary points.

Provides information on a clinical trial which tests the clinical equivalence and resource consequences of day care and conventional inpatient care for active rheumatoid arthritis. Subjects and methodology used in conducting the study; Results of the study; Resource costs of day care. INSET: Key messages.

Examines the use of a guideline based questionnaire to audit hospital care of acute asthma in Great Britain. Comparison of the care given by chest physicians and general physicians; Occurrence of deviations from the guidelines; Proof on the use of questionnaire for both doctor and audit physicians.

Evaluates the views of inpatients regarding hospital care services of London psychiatric teaching hospital in England. Verification of the judgment of 'helpfulness' quoted by the patients; Assessment of Mental Health Act associated in the International Classification of Diseases; Overview of the responses obtained.

Focuses the necessity of measurement of clinical results for monitoring the quality and achievement of cost effectiveness of health services in Great Britain. Debate on the system of measurement; Advantages of measurement system on patients; Requirement of establishment of effective relationship between general practitioners and hospital consultants.

The author reports that the Great Britain National Health Service watchdog body, the Healthcare Commission, has found that medical patients at some England hospitals are waiting too long for medical services. Services included routine diagnostics, such as scans and blood tests. The projected target had been a maximum wait of 18 weeks from referral to treatment.

The article discusses the author's father's death and the health care he received. The author recalls the excellent National Health Service care her father received in Great Britain from nurses and ambulance care assistants. When she arrived at the hospital her father's paperwork was already processed, he had a drip in each arm, blood tests were on their way to the laboratory, and an ECG was being printed. She comments on this efficiency.

Looks at the treatment of hospital-acquired infections in Great Britain's National Health Service (NHS). Details of a critical report by the Great Britain's House of Commons, which suggest that hospitals have not taken sufficient actions to prevent hospital-acquired infections; View of legislators that too much effort has been given to treating methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), with insufficient attention given to other infections; Critique of current infection-control policies and practices.

Reports that children and teenagers are unhappy with the lack of communication they receive when they are treated by in the British National Health Service. Report published by the Commission for Health Improvement; Claim by young patients that they have the right to participate in decisions about their treatment; Dislike of the hospital environment.

Editorial. Offers a look at how personal feelings affect an individual's reading of a medical journal. Discussion of a paper by Jack Wennberg in the March 13, 2004 issue regarding death in highly respected American hospitals; Use of healthcare resources in the best hospitals in America; Reference to a paper in the same issue by Chibuzo Odigwe that claims children in Great Britain often feel ignored by the British National Health Service; Communication between children patients and physicians.

Reports on improvement of the management of coronary heart disease by the British National Health Service. Lack of improvement in preventing the disease; Evaluation of services by the Commission for Health Improvement and the Audit Commission; Progress related to clinical care of patients.