Wednesday 18 June 2014

The best health provider in the world - the NHS.


I’ve been very critical of the NHS where it fails us, but on this Blog and on;
helpmesortoutstpeters.blogspot.com

I’ve always made it clear that the NHS is the best and fairest health provider in the world. It’s nice to have some independent confirmation in this Daily Telegraph article which is actually based on a Guardian Article;

Keith Perry 17 Jun 2014

The National Health Service has been praised as the world's best health-care system by an international panel of experts who said it was superior to those found in countries which spend far more on health.

 

 

The study, entitled “Mirror, Mirror on the Wall,” also described US healthcare provision as the worst globally. Despite investing the most money in health, the US refuses care to many patients without health insurance and is also the worst at saving the lives of people who fall ill, it found.

 

 

The Commonwealth Fund, a Washington-based foundation produced the report. The fund is respected around the world for its analysis of the performance of different countries' health systems. It examined 11 countries, including detailed data from patients, doctors and the World Health Organisation, the Guardian reported.

 

 

"The United Kingdom ranks first overall, scoring highest on quality, access and efficiency," the fund's researchers conclude in their 30-page report. Their findings amount to a huge endorsement of the health service, especially as it spends the second-lowest amount on healthcare among the 11 – just £2,008 per head, less than half the £5,017 in the US. Only New Zealand, with £1,876, spent less.

 

 

In the Commonwealth Fund study, the UK came first out of the 11 countries in eight of the 11 measures of care the authors looked at. It came top on measures including providing effective care, safe care, co-ordinated care and patient-centred care. The fund also rated the NHS as the best for giving access to care and for efficient use of resources.

 

The only serious criticism of the NHS was its poor record on keeping people alive. On a composite "healthy lives" score, which includes deaths among infants and patients who would have survived had they received timely and effective healthcare, the UK came 10th. The authors say that the healthcare system cannot be solely blamed for this issue, which is strongly influenced by social and economic factors. Although the NHS came third overall for the timeliness of care, its "short waiting times" were praised. "There is a frequent misperception that trade-offs between universal coverage and timely access to specialised services are inevitable. However, the Netherlands, UK and Germany provide universal coverage with low out-of-pocket costs while maintaining quick access to speciality services,", the report added.

 

The NHS also outperforms the other countries – which include France, Germany and Canada – in managing the care of people who are chronically ill, the report said.

 

Dr Mark Porter, leader of the doctors' union, the British Medical Association, told the Guardian the fund's findings were "clear evidence that our much-maligned NHS is one of the top-performing healthcare systems in the world.

 

"We should not be complacent as we are facing pressures that are threatening the high-quality care that the Commonwealth Fund has rightly praised. A combination of rising patient demand, staff shortages and falling funding is undermining the very foundations of the NHS, as is the constant short-term interference from politicians of all colours."

 

Dr Peter Carter, chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing, said: "I'm absolutely thrilled to see this because it reinforces that this is a very good NHS, despite the fact that it has such a low level of funding relative to other countries."

 

Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary, who has been criticised by some senior doctors for painting an unfairly negative picture of NHS staff and the quality of care provided, welcomed the report. "NHS staff work incredibly hard to care for patients and these encouraging results pay testament to that," he said.

 

Neil Harris

(a don’t stop till you drop production)
Home:  helpmesortoutthenhs.blogspot.com
Contact me:   neilwithpromisestokeep@gmail.com

Monday 2 June 2014

What we really think about the NHS.


NSee?

It’s easy………when you know what you are doing!

You would think that everyone agreed with the Government and the managers of the NHS.

Static budgets at a time of high inflation means real cuts to the NHS.

At the same time the cost of care for the elderly and the cost of new drugs soars.

That means real cuts in services.

That’s what we all want, isn’t it?

Eh no, here’s a Guardian report on an IPSOS/MORI opinion poll in May 2014 which shows what we all feel about the NHS and it’s future;

 

 

Denis Campbell, health correspondent

 

   

The Guardian, Thursday 8 May 2014 20.43 BST     

 

 

Four out of five people in Britain believe the NHS should be protected from government spending cuts, according to a survey which reaffirmed the high level of affection in which the service is held.

 

Asked which two or three areas of public spending should be exempt from more austerity, respondents identified the NHS and healthcare (79%), schools (51%), care for the elderly (51%), the police (39%) and social services (21%).

 

Some 49% agreed that the NHS should be given more money "so that it can continue to provide services in the same way it does at the moment", while only 7% backed further rationing of care, in research undertaken by Ipsos MORI. Asked to name the biggest problem facing the NHS, 38% said lack of resources, 27% identified understaffing and 24% mentioned long waiting times.

 

Despite a series of care scandals such as Mid Staffs, Morecambe Bay and Winterbourne View, the NHS remains the thing that makes most people proud to be British. In all 52% identified the NHS as that institution, more than the armed forces (47%), royal family (33%), Team GB (26%) and the BBC (22%). That 52% is 7% up on 2012, when Ipsos MORI last asked that question.

 

But concern about the NHS's future is rising. One in four (24%) said it was one of the most important issues facing the country, a higher figure than in 2012.

 

Some 67% rated the quality of their healthcare as good, with another 17% describing it as very good. But 73% believe that the problems uncovered at Stafford Hospital, scene of the service's biggest scandal in years, exist in some, most or all other hospitals.

 

Britons are also among the most negative internationally about how sustainable their health services are, given the NHS is facing rising demand and further years of tight budgets. In the survey of public opinion in 20 countries only 9% said they expected the quality of healthcare on offer to improve, while in the UK 43% said "get worse".

So now we know how everybody feels about the NHS, we need to make our voice heard.

 

Neil Harris

(a don’t stop till you drop production) 
Home:  helpmesortoutthenhs.blogspot.com

Contact: neilwithpromisestokeep@gmail.com