And at least the heart of the scheme has doctors' firm backing: four-fifths of them told the poll cited above that providing national patient-care records would indeed be of real importance.

ECONOMIST: The NHS is to spend billions on IT. Will it be spent well?

Dr Tonge, who was a family planning doctor before entering politics, also said that some doctors told women the pill was "dangerous" and tried to scare them off it, but she stressed that it was simply a larger dose of the same hormones contained in an ordinary contraceptive pill.

BBC: News | UK Politics | MPs call for over-the-counter pills

The family, who live in Skipton in North Yorkshire, claimed doctors in Leeds told them little could be done for George but said after being treated in Newcastle he was doing well.

BBC: England

But the doctors told me if I kept going down the path I was headed, I would likely not be around to watch them graduate from high school.

CNN: Gov. Christie, I was you -- listen to the docs