NHS spend and staffing worse than other Western countries, warns report

Call for greater investment in doctors and nurses as study finds quality of UK’S healthcare is ‘slipping’

BRITAIN’S health service lags behind the ones of other high-income countries, research suggests.

The study, by the London School of Economics and Harvard School of Public Health, compared 10 countries, examining spending levels and a range of indicators measuring quality of care.

Published in the British Medical Journal, the study said the quality of NHS care appeared to be “slipping”, with British patients faring worse than their counterparts abroad.

Researchers compared the UK with Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and the US in the study.

The UK was found to have the lowest healthcare expenditure per person at £2,962, compared with an average of £4,414 across the other countries.

Overall, the UK spent 8.7 per cent of GDP on health in 2017, compared with the average of 11.5 per cent.

GPS in the UK reported spending the least amount of time with patients with

92 per cent saying they spent less than 15 minutes on an appointment, compared with 38 per cent elsewhere in wealthy countries.

The UK had fewer doctors, at 2.8 per 1,000 people in 2017, compared with an average of 3.5.

Its number of practising nurses in 2017 was also “considerably lower” at 7.8 per 1,000 people, compared with an average of 11.4.

The UK had the lowest survival rates for breast and colon cancer, and second lowest for cervical and rectal cancer, while 19 per cent of hospital patients waited two months or more to see a specialist, compared with a 12 per cent average. The UK had fewer hospital beds, at 2.5 per 1,000 people, compared with four per 1,000 elsewhere.

However, there were fewer healthcare-associated infections in the UK, fewer people suffered a blood clot after surgery and more over-65s were given a flu injection.

There were also more women having breast and cervical screening.

The authors said: “Our study suggests the NHS should look towards improving staffing ratios, long-term care provision, and social spending.

“Although access to care compared favourably to other countries, utilisation was lower than average and quality seems to be slipping. ”

Mark Dayan, policy analyst at the Nuffield Trust, said: “The UK lags behind on many areas of cancer and in overall avoidable deaths for killer diseases. But the NHS does appear relatively efficient, and actually has perfectly normal waiting times despite the complaints we so often hear. This report is right to point to low levels of key staff as an underlying concern.”

The Conservatives have promised an NHS budget rise of 3.4 per cent a year on average, so that by 2023-24 £149 billion will be spent.

Labour has pledged a 4.3 per cent annual increase in health over four years, amounting to £6billion extra a year by 2023-24, which the Lib Dems have pledged to match.