National Health Service top rated healthcare system

Even with all of the government cutbacks in social services, welfare, and more, the UK continues to do something right. The NHS – National Health Service was rated number in the the world (yet again) by the Commonwealth Fund when compared to 11 other developed economies. There were a total of four categories of medical care in which they were number one, and other categories also scored very highly.

This is a major accomplishment. The government has been reducing spending all through this decade, yet as of 2016 NHS is not only rated the safest healthcare system, but it is still the most affordable. While this is great news, the risk is that the Treasury as well as Parliament may feel it is safe to reduce health care spending even more. As they may not argue that even with recent cutbacks the system is tops in the wealthy world. Today the NHS budget is set at £120bn per year, which is a lot of money but much less than others.

How does NHS compare to others

There were a total of 10 countries that the experts at the Commonwealth Fund looked at. They include Sweden, Australia, Canada, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Germany, Switzerland, United States, and France. The United Kingdom beat all of those others! Even though people complain of wait lists and grip about other things, we do have it much better than others.

While the rankings only come out every 3 years, the National Health Service also was top rated the last time results were released, which was 2014. What is even more incredible as that the budget cut backs, and changing to the programmes, started in 2013. Even after all those changed for the last 6 years the UK is number one. T

Even though £120bn (or 9.9%% of GDP) is spent on healthcare each year, it is still much less money than other wealthy countries. As one example, the United States spends 70% more of their GDP on medical care, but they are at the bottom of the list and ranked number 11. Only 3 other countries spend less than the United Kingdom on health care. The NHS is efficient, even though the Prime Minister and others in parliament continue to say differently.

This means the NHS budget of £120bn is equivalent to the 4th lowest in the world, but the care is the best. It is also the safest and the most affordable to the millions of patients who go through the system. This is a tremendous accomplishment, and something for us in the United Kingdom to be proud of. It also provides more medical insurance and dental care to a greater percentage of people in the country. There are even additional health care schemes available for those residents that are seeking alternative care or insurance, including for traveling.

There were also 11 categories ranked by the Commonwealth Fund. the NHS was number one in 4 of them, which is much more than any other country. They also scored higher (in general) on the other 7 than other countries. This is what lead to the number one overall ranking.

The National Health Service healthcare system is something that all of us can be proud of. The United Kingdom is setting the pace for the rest of the world. We are safer, more affordable, and provide coverage to more people than any other country.