The pattern of health care provision is changing in Britain, due to the increasing focus on primary care. This is exemplified by the policies of the Labour government (elected in 1997) that stipulated that the majority of health care should eventually be provided in a primary care setting. As a reflection of this trend, undergraduate medical education is now based more in the community rather than in the hospital. These changes in medical education will influence the priorities and expertise of future doctors and elevate the status of primary care medicine
