What would the NHS see if it looked in the mirror, asks Siva Anandaciva, author of the King’s Fund study comparing the health service with those of 18 other rich countries, in the introduction to his 118-page report. timely and critical.
The answer, he says, is “a service that has seen better days.”
That, to put it mildly, is a blatant understatement. One columnist has described the service’s problems as a “perma-crisis”. The NHS is commonly described as ‘broken’, although some refer to its funding model rather than its chronic understaffing, its worryingly dilapidated situation and, especially, its abysmal record in delivering urgent attention Citizen satisfaction is at its lowest level since surveys began 40 years ago.
An NHS official recently contrasted the low-key public celebration the service will see when it turns 75 early next month with the huge acclaim when it turned 70 in 2018. Asked why, he said which was because the service was really gone. down in recent years and everyone knew it.
The King’s Fund analysis underlines this. While the affection and support for its founding principles remains intact, the care that patients now often receive is not good enough. “We are by no means where we should be,” says Anandaciva.
Recent reports from the National Audit Office i Institute of Governance have detailed the implosion of the NHS in impeccable detail, highlighted most notoriously by its failure to meet its main waiting time targets – for A&E, surgery, cancer care and ambulance arrivals . These were generally met until 2010, but performance began to deteriorate sharply in 2014.
Delays in seeing a GP, getting help in an emergency department and having a new hip or knee hopefully regaining mobility, as well as long waits for paramedics to attend a heart attack a call to 999, they are depressingly well known. The human cost is anxiety, pain, and sometimes preventable death.
All are consequences of the shocking lack of NHS resources (beds, scanners, staff) in relation to similarly wealthy nations, which the new report lays bare.
Anandaciva goes further, however. It identifies historic underfunding and long-term staff shortages as important reasons why people in the UK with cancer, or who have a heart attack or stroke, are more likely to die as a result than their peers from most of the other 18 nations. Political neglect of such a vital asset as the NHS has a real human impact, measured in an increased likelihood of death from treatment delays.
skip the previous newsletter promotion
Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you through the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning
“,”newsletterId”:”morning-briefing”,”successDescription”:”We will send you the first edition every day of the week”}” clientOnly>Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertisements and content sponsored by third parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google Privacy policy i Terms of Service to apply.
after the promotion of the newsletter
Martin McKee, professor of public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, says: “The underlying health of the British public has suffered considerably since 2010, when austerity began. The NHS is picking up on the failures of government policies and the destruction of social safety nets.
“We’ve seen a child die from mold on the walls of their home, the rise of food banks and more parents unable to give their children nutritious food. The appallingly high levels of preventable death from our major killer diseases are inextricably linked to austerity and underfunding of the NHS.”
Anandaciva says in his conclusion: “It should be of serious concern to political leaders and policy makers that the UK health system continues to lag behind so many of its peers in health outcomes.” But that doesn’t mean the NHS model is broken, he adds. The evidence is that health services, whether organized like ours or not, work better when they have money, equipment and doctors and nurses to do their jobs properly. In a very detailed 118-page report, this simple truth emerged clearly.
