It's now been just over a year since the Health and Social Care Act was granted Royal assent and passed into law. A lot can happen in a year. The Health Secretary who brought forward the legislation, Andrew Lansley, was supplanted byjeremy Hunt in a cabinet reshuffle; the Mid Staffordshire care scandal rocked public confidence in the National Health Service (NHS) in England; and only last month the government was forced to withdraw and reconsider regulations governing competition under the new system. But amidst all the drama of the past 12 months, the date of Monday, April 1, has remained fixed on the horizon as the day that the Health and Social Care Act comes into force, and the NHS in England undergoes the most radical transformation in its history. Now, that day has finally arrived.
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