How does the NHS compare to the health care systems of other countries?, 2023, Anandaciva

The Kings Fund

How does the NHS compare to the health care systems of other countries ?

Siva Anandaciva

*Comparing the health care systems of different countries can help politicians and policy‑makers assess how the UK health care system is performing and where it could improve.

*For our research, we reviewed the academic literature on previous attempts to compare health care systems, analysed quantitative data on health system performance, and interviewed experts in comparative health policy.

*We found the UK health care system has fewer key resources than its peers. It performs relatively well on some measures of efficiency but waiting times for common procedures were ‘middle-of-the-pack’ before the Covid-19 pandemic and have deteriorated sharply since.

*The UK performs well on protecting people from some of the financial costs of ill health, but lags behind its peers on important health care outcomes, including life expectancy and deaths. The latter could have been avoided through timely and effective health care, and public health and preventive services.

*There is little evidence that one particular ‘type’ of health care system or model of health care funding produces systematically better results than another. Countries predominantly try to achieve better health outcomes by improving their existing model of health care, rather than by adopting a radically different model.

Web page: https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/publications/nhs-compare-health-care-systems-other-countries

Full report .pdf https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/sites/default/files/2023-06/How_NHS_compare_2023.pdf

 

Ministers set out plan to train and keep more NHS staff

More doctors and nurses will be trained and thousands of new roles will be created to work alongside them, as part of a major NHS England workforce plan.

University places for medical students will double, a new apprenticeship scheme for doctors is planned and medical degrees could be shortened.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the delayed workforce plan was "historic" and had taken time to get right.

Critics say poor working conditions in the NHS could undermine the plan.

There are more than 110,000 vacancies in the workforce at present, with one out of every 10 posts unfilled, which creates huge pressure on staff and affects the care patients receive.

The NHS has been beset by strikes this year, and the dispute with doctors is still continuing.

Pay for staff does not feature in the plan - instead, it focuses on increasing training places for medical and nursing students and a new scheme that allows trainee doctors to earn while they learn.

Twitter thread on how much this will cost ! https://twitter.com/user/status/1674820819233521669

 

Bummer! I can't read Twitter without an account any more.

 

A member of my family has been in a London hospital for five months of this year. They are a medical professional like me. It is very clear from the experience that the service will continue to be unsafe and ineffective until basic nursing pay becomes realistic (maybe a 50% increase) and working conditions for medical staff become tolerable. We need to increase training places, yes, but on its own this is no solution. It is a bit like wanting to feed a family and buying more flour when the gas supply has been cut off to the oven because of not paying bills.

 

https://twitter.com/user/status/1674821830069174283

https://twitter.com/user/status/1674823081972449293