British Healthcare Issues

Lawrence Chu of the LA Times wrote an article detailing British citizen’s reactions to U.S politicians (particularly Sarah Palin) remarks of the National Health Service being the model of the failure of the “Welfare State”. British citizen’s cried out against the “American” style of healthcare stating that its “grossly expensive and unnecessary medical procedures that favor the rich”. The NHS provides all citizens of Great Britain regardless of income with healthcare and they believe that it’s hypocritical and tragic that the American system doesn’t do the same. This news comes on the heels of a proposed shake up of the NHS which will move hospitals out of the NHS to create a more vibrant industry of social enterprise. This will mean that GP’s (General Practitioner's)will be responsible for much of the new budgets. The result will be the abolition of all 10 of the strategic health authorities and 152 management bodies known as primary care trusts. The new structure that will be created will be held accountable by and independent NHS board which will be free from political interference; also responsibility for public health will be passed on to local authorities. The hope is to lower the management costs of the NHS which accounts for nearly $170 billion by half within the next four years.

These new measures have British citizens on edge as they fear “privatization by stealth” in their healthcare system if more power is put into the hands of doctors and competition is introduced into the NHS. Current British Prime Minister David Cameroon stated twice that Britain will not be selling off the NHS or moving towards an Americanized private style healthcare system. The NHS in Britain is widely regarded and considered by some to be the greatest triumph of the welfare state, and has continued to grow since its implementation in 1948; and it is currently the largest employer of British citizens. There have been numerous politicians who have proposed to streamline the NHS but they must be careful on who they tinker with the system. The NHS is an institution unto itself, the British have a love-hate relationship with it, and there are equal amounts of horror stories of the NHS from rude nurses and doctors to long wait lines for standard medical procedures. However the notion that the NHS could become more “Americanized” is something that is unfathomable to British citizens and they will do everything in their power to keep it from happening. Interestingly both British and America citizens are adamantly opposed to the restructuring of their healthcare systems. British fear more privatization and Americans fear more government intervention; it’s unrealistic to think that both systems can be changed overnight or even at all. The institutions have become so deeply entrenched in both countries that any kind of major overhaul has the possibility to cause more harm than good.

Article Links

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jun/13/world/la-fg-britain-health-care-20110613

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10557996