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.comContact me: neilwithpromisestokeep@gmail.com
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