Let’s do it Swiss-style
James Gubb, 24 January 2008
The Swiss health care system – while certainly not cheap at €4,270 per head – receives international acclaim for achieving both universal coverage and a very high quality of care for all, without the constrained resources that tend to characterise government-controlled systems such as the NHS. Waiting times for treatment are short or non-existent and the uptake of new technology and drugs is high. For example, whereas only three NHS centres provide the latest intensity-modulated radiotherapy routinely to significant numbers of cancer patients, the Swiss do this as standard. Patient satisfaction is, perhaps unsurprisingly, excellent. As this Civitas study shows, there is much the NHS could learn.
Illegal immigration will affect the cost effectivness of the NHS, however that is a minor issue.
Gordon Brown has as we know flooded the service with monsoons of cash but with very little benefit to the end user. I ask was this an attempt to increase what has now become known as the client state, thus employing more public sector workers relient on the present government for their excistance, a cycnicle concept – yes. or a typical solution of just throwing monay at the problem, in the hope that it will be the anti biotic to solve the ill NHS.
My view is that we have to quash the perception that the NHS is free; it is not.
As a start i would make everyone pay for their prescriptions. This would increase income but make the public aware that medication has a price.
Then remove the health service from government control as suggested in (quite like heaven).
The NHS COULD work well if its management was left to medical people and if the funding allowed the service to satisfy demand instead of demand being tailored to fit the resources.
There are several other systems in other countries which work admirably but our political leaders prefer to wear blinkers.
James:
Immigrants provided they are working should be paying tax. However the more people we have in this country the more people need treatment.Not a problem. However the eqation does not seem to work, i.e. more people = more taxation = more money for the NHS.
Let me reiterate a recent experience. Iam on permanent medication and have to see the hospital consultant every 3 months. My appointment was for 11am on that particular morning. I sat and waited until 12:45 pm, as someone whom is self employed if i am not working iam not earning, so i was becoming a bit fed up. i was about to leave when the consulting room was vacated by a family who had obvousley just arrived into the country, there was a lot of arm waving and gesturing,with the nurse. A moment or two later an interpreter arrived. this hospital employs 3 interpreters at an approximate cost of 35k to 45k each. Replicate this across the country and we are into some serious money.
Some people no doubt would consider this little missive as racist or xenophobic, well thats their view; it is actually an objective account of my experience on that particular day. And an indication of some of theextra costs incurred by the health service.
The immigrants you speak of should still be paying tax to the government – a part of which will go to funding the NHS.
Yes, the NHS has to cope with an expanding population, but its problems are much more fundamental than that, as our recent publication, Quite Like Heaven? clearly shows.
Of course the swiss model of health care has a financial advantage over that of the UK’s NHS, in that it does not open its doors to health tourists and the EU immigrants, who have flocked to this country.
It is that simple, limit health care to UK citizens.
There was nothing inherently wrong with the original idea of an NHS as was concieved in 1948. However it has become almost a world health service, fine if the world were to make a monetary contribution, sadly that is not the case, the ever increasing burden falls upon the UK taxpayer.
So it is either back to the basic concept or make everyone in the UK pay a levy, without exemption, whether you are an immigrant, tourist, short term visitor,or resident, and do not accept immigrants either from within or outside the EU who need long term medication, treatment,or care.
Some may consider this extreme, but the time has come for the taxpayer to call a halt, charity begins at home.