Transcript Health Care Reform and the NHS

Health Care Reform and the NHS
 UK health care expenditure (HCE)
 How NHS compares with other countries
 Health care reform
 Past, and current, ‘reforms’ in the UK
 The future?
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Health Care ‘Industry’
 Annual ‘sales’ of approximately £60bn more than defence, education or local govt.
 Equivalent to approximately 7% GDP or
£1,000 per capita
 Employs approximately 800,000 people - of
whom around 60% (500,000) are nurses
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Three issues in interpreting HCE
Health care expenditure is influenced by:
 Changes in national income (GDP)
 Population growth & demographic profile
 Inflation
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Why might HCE increase?
 Aging population?
 Spread of private health insurance?
 Advances in technology?
 Increased income?
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Why does HCE  GDP?
 Need
 Tastes and preferences
 Efficiency
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What HCE ignores
 Distribution - equity
 Outcomes/quality of care/benefits
 Mix of services
 Technical efficiency
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Summary
 UK historically low HCE w.r.t OECD
 Levels of health broadly comparable
 Relatively equitable, although threatened
 Problems? Waiting lists/time, geog.
variations
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Health Care Reform
‘Would you tell me, please, which way I should
go from here?’ Alice asked the Cheshire Cat.
‘That depends a good deal on where you want
to get to,’ said the Cat.
Lewis Caroll, Alice in Wonderland
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