LAUSR

As the NHS approaches its 70th birthday, The BMJ has invited its readers to say what they think is the NHS’s most important achievement. From medical breakthroughs to the care and reassurance it provides patients, hundreds of NHS success stories spring to mind. This week The BMJ asked medical leaders from a range of specialties to put forward their suggestions. Simon Wessely, professor of psychological medicine at King’s College London, highlights the dramatic reduction in the number of mental health patients who are treated as inpatients as a standout achievement. “When the NHS was founded 97% of people with mental illness were treated in hospitals. Now it’s 3%,” he said. Helen Stokes-Lampard, chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners, said …