This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/jul/18/the-uk-must-spend-more-of-its-gdp-on-the-nhs
The article has changed 7 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 5 | Version 6 |
|---|---|
| The UK must spend more of its GDP on the NHS | The UK must spend more of its GDP on the NHS |
| (11 days later) | |
| Mark Littlewood of the Institute of Economic Affairs writes (Letters, 15 July) that the NHS has poorer outcomes than countries with social health insurance systems, such as Germany and Belgium. Strangely, he neglects to state that Belgium spends 10.6% of its GDP on healthcare and Germany 11.3%, compared with the UK’s 9.1% (World Bank 2014 figures), surely a far more convincing reason for their outcomes being better, rather than as a magical effect of having a social insurance system? But of course that would imply that taxes should rise and the NHS be properly funded. Pretending it all happens free if you divert spending into profits for private firms and the transaction costs and bureaucracy entailed in a social insurance system would boost profits for those private firms. Just possibly, this might be the motive for the IEA. | Mark Littlewood of the Institute of Economic Affairs writes (Letters, 15 July) that the NHS has poorer outcomes than countries with social health insurance systems, such as Germany and Belgium. Strangely, he neglects to state that Belgium spends 10.6% of its GDP on healthcare and Germany 11.3%, compared with the UK’s 9.1% (World Bank 2014 figures), surely a far more convincing reason for their outcomes being better, rather than as a magical effect of having a social insurance system? But of course that would imply that taxes should rise and the NHS be properly funded. Pretending it all happens free if you divert spending into profits for private firms and the transaction costs and bureaucracy entailed in a social insurance system would boost profits for those private firms. Just possibly, this might be the motive for the IEA. |
| Bob BirtwellChichester, West Sussex | Bob BirtwellChichester, West Sussex |
| • The NHS is an insurance scheme without the overheads. This government has deliberately starved the NHS of resources. No surprise that claims for malpractice and negligence have increased by 50% in the past two years. This is a national disgrace. It’s time for Jeremy Hunt to go. Steve ElliotLondon | • The NHS is an insurance scheme without the overheads. This government has deliberately starved the NHS of resources. No surprise that claims for malpractice and negligence have increased by 50% in the past two years. This is a national disgrace. It’s time for Jeremy Hunt to go. Steve ElliotLondon |
| • Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com | • Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com |
| • Read more Guardian letters – click here to visit gu.com/letters | • Read more Guardian letters – click here to visit gu.com/letters |
| • The first letter on this page was amended on 19 July 2017 because Mark Littlewood is from the Institute of Economic Affairs, not Institute of Directors as an earlier version said. | • The first letter on this page was amended on 19 July 2017 because Mark Littlewood is from the Institute of Economic Affairs, not Institute of Directors as an earlier version said. |
| NHS | NHS |
| Health | Health |
| Health policy | Health policy |
| Institute of Directors | Institute of Directors |
| Public services policy | Public services policy |
| Jeremy Hunt | Jeremy Hunt |
| letters | letters |
| Share on Facebook | Share on Facebook |
| Share on Twitter | Share on Twitter |
| Share via Email | Share via Email |
| Share on LinkedIn | Share on LinkedIn |
| Share on Pinterest | Share on Pinterest |
| Share on Google+ | Share on Google+ |
| Share on WhatsApp | Share on WhatsApp |
| Share on Messenger | Share on Messenger |
| Reuse this content | Reuse this content |