A European look at health and the NHS
Four broken ribs after a trip on a pavement on holiday this summer gave me a closer encounter with the Italian health service than I wished!
Fortunately I had remembered to renew my EHIC card which covered the costs of health care – a stark reminder of yet another advantage of being in the European Union.
Without the EHIC card, I would have required to pay.
Two days in an Italian hospital were interesting. The care and food was excellent – and there was a high emphasis on thorough cleaning of the ward.
The National Health Service is rightly regarded as one of Britain’s key institutions – providing free health care (unlike the USA for example where poorer people can be left with very limited health care).
But the NHS is struggling with growing demand – with government waiting-time targets frequently broken, the stress of delays in seeing specialists, repeat visits for different tests, poorer outcomes than some other countries.
The Netherlands have one of the highest-rated systems, funded by a compulsory health insurance – but with a separate social insurance fund from general taxation to cover mental health, elderly care and end-of-life care.
The German system is funded by payments of about 13 per cent salary, while the Swedish system is run by the 21 local councils – but charges people for seeing the GP or for prescriptions, albeit with a yearly cap.
More funding is vital. A high level report, commissioned by the Liberal Democrats this year, proposed replacing National Insurance by a dedicated health care tax to ensure sustainable long-term funding of the NHS.
But money is not the only thing. The NHS also needs more local accountability, rapid and comprehensive access to diagnostic tests, a greater priority on mental health services and to become a national health service rather than a national sickness service to counter pressures from growing obesity and lifestyle issues.
The NHS has been a valued friend for 70 years.
The time is right for a comprehensive reassessment of the NHS, its role, funding and priorities to ensure it does the job for the next century.
The time is right for a comprehensive reassessment of the NHS, its role, funding and priorities