Many are run by retired nurses lured back to work by the prospect of owning their own business.

FORBES: Drug Delivery

CareFusion's nurse educators teach up to 20 nurses at a time in hospital classes that run from one to three hours.

FORBES: Careers

The vehicle is run by charity Hope for Tomorrow and staffed with two NHS chemotherapy nurses and a driver.

BBC: NHS Gloucestershire's mobile chemotherapy unit

Nurses could manage their clinics, job advisers take over their employment offices and teachers run their schools.

ECONOMIST: David Cameron searches for his ��council house�� moment

In an initial trial run, involving just 56 telephone calls, the doctors agreed with the nurses' judgment in every case.

ECONOMIST: And spare a doctor

Immigrants own and run shops, serve in restaurants and staff hospitals (many of the doctors and nurses who work in Britain's health service have trained abroad).

ECONOMIST: Charlemagne