From the Guardian today:
The NHS is the only health system in the industrialised world where wealth does not determine access to care — providing the most widely accessible treatments at low cost among rich nations, a key study has found.
The survey, by US health thinktank the Commonwealth Fund, showed that while one-third of American adults "went without recommended care, did not see a doctor when sick, or failed to fill prescriptions because of costs", this figure was only 6% in the UK and 5% in Holland.
In all countries except Britain, wealth largely determined access to health, with patients with incomes below the national average more likely to report trouble with medical bills and problems with getting care because of cost.
And it is this that the ConDems are seeking to destroy.
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Rubbish. The simple fact is that Conservative voiters are typically older and consequently much more frequent users of the NHS. The Conservatives know where their votes come from.
http://www.dailyfinance.co.uk/2010/10/26/nhs-hospitals-beat-foreign-rivals/
It is about to get a lot worse though.
A lot worse.
@Alex
Let me assure you – those in the NHS think they’re out top destroy it
And that’s from the consultants down
Far and away the best value-for-money, equal-access system I have used and observed (and I have lived in the UK, Switzerland, France and the US for many years) is ISRAEL.
I guess Israel was not considered in this report. Otherwise in any event the Guardian would not have covered the story.
I think that depends a little on your ethnicity within those territories
Pretty bold statement – and your evidence is?
@JayPee
One to one discussions
real research
@paul
Thank you, I will read it. I have no doubt that the system can be improved, but my (non-scientific) observation was that it was working rather well.
the problem with the NHS is political control. It does not rank so well when outcomes between countries are compared. Quality of care and results are important – not centrally dictated policies that change with the wind – not micromanagement from the political centre.
@alastair
oh, I see. You want the £100 billion or more that the NHS commands to be outside political control. How convenient. That makes its capture for private gain so much easier