Our life expectancy at birth - one measure of health - is about a decade longer than in the Philippines, and Britain spends over 9% of its GDP on health, compared to less than 3% in the Philippines. We're lucky to have the NHS.Originally Posted by RickyR
However, all is not well with health in the UK.
Too many of us still smoke ( a quarter in Scotland and Northern Ireland ; a fifth in England and Wales ). It costs more to treat the consequences of smoking than the tax raised from this habit.
More than a quarter of us are obese, we don't eat enough fruit and vegetables, and we don't take enough exercise.
Britain is the European leader for alcohol-related disease, which costs the NHS and the economy far more than the tax raised. A third of us exceed recommended safe levels of alcohol intake.
Possibly 1/3 adults have high blood pressure and up to half are not being treated.
Survival from common cancers in Britain is worse than several similar countries.
EU rules contribute to problems of quality / communication with doctors and nurses from Europe practising here, and the Working Time Directive limits the hours doctors in training can work.
Increased illegal drug usage has filled our jails, cost taxpayers ( not offset by tax raised ), spread avoidable diseases and fuelled organised crime.
The PFI ( Private Finance Initiative ) system for building new hospitals has proved very poor value for money, yet has escaped much public attention.
As for a) and b) :-
Easier said than done, but here goes ...
Leave the EU.
Train more doctors in the UK. At present more than a third qualified outside the UK, and there is an excess of British applicants for every medical school place. Train more nurses in the UK.
Improve doctors' and nurses' communication with patients. This is not only for treatment, but also prevention of illness. It's far easier and cost - effective to screen for diseases ( cancers, diabetes, high blood pressure ) than to treat. It's also very hard to lose weight, and far better never to become overweight in the first place. Prevention is better than cure.
" Post code lottery " for prescriptions and treatment should not exist - there should not be such a range of health / ill health depending on where you live.
We will never make smoking and alcohol consumption illegal, just as we will not decriminalise drugs - hypocritical as that may be. But there's room for more support and treatment for all three habits.
Health care reforms - allowing more treatment by the private and voluntary sector, and devolving decision making to GPs ( and hospital doctors ) - probably won't contain the costs of health care, but might improve our health.
Britain's health - while not broken - could certainly be improved. Have a look at www.lookafterournhs.org.uk , contact your MP ( www.parliament.uk ), find out if your local surgery has a patient participation group ( www.growingppgs.com ), consider donating blood, and arrange to leave organs after death for transplantation ( http://www.uktransplant.org.uk/ukt/h...me_a_donor.jsp ).
