The NHS: A System in Crisis?
Can you imagine a Britain without its National Health Service of which we used to be so rightly proud? When it was inaugurated on July 5th 1948 by Aneurin Bevan , Minister of Health, there was great rejoicing and the demand was inconceivable because its main principle was to meet the needs of the entire population. Can we honestly say that it still achieves these goals?
Although I agree that the NHS has laudable aims, it is surely obvious that so many years later patient demand far outstrips the availability of General Practitioners, nurses and hospital professionals. Unquestionably, this is not scare mongering because there is increasing evidence that family doctors are suffering stress due to mounting workloads. …show more content…
You have the issue of health tourism which is “people who have travelled with a deliberate intention to obtain free healthcare to which they are not entitled.” This is a huge problem for the NHS as it reportedly costs about £200m a year. To make matters even worse, some British citizens are not helping the NHS as they receive treatment for drug addiction which costs the NHS an unbelievable £488m a year. The figures unfortunately get even worse as Public Health statistics reveal that alcohol misuse costs the NHS £3.5billion in just one year. But it does not stop there because smokers who need treatment cost the NHS approximately £6billion a year! As can be seen from just these three areas, the NHS is put under immense financial pressure to try and help everyone. It is appalling that these foreigners and British citizens are so …show more content…
In fact it has been ranked as the best out of the world’s wealthiest countries. This included nine European countries, one of which is Germany, New Zealand, Australia and the US. Also, it is worth keeping in mind that our healthcare service is free for must UK residents (depending on your entitlement) unlike the world’s wealthiest Nation, America. Another advantageous feature of the NHS is that everyone has equal shares to care and so the rich are not given any priority over the poor and so the NHS in this way does restore some of its pride by following its principles.
Therefore, to conclude, the NHS does meet its principle upon which it was founded, to meet the needs of everyone, but only to an extent as it is currently struggling. The NHS is abused by too many; this must stop in order for it to be successful and will require government action. I do believe that the state of the NHS will get worse unless it changes its
Can you imagine a Britain without its National Health Service of which we used to be so rightly proud? When it was inaugurated on July 5th 1948 by Aneurin Bevan , Minister of Health, there was great rejoicing and the demand was inconceivable because its main principle was to meet the needs of the entire population. Can we honestly say that it still achieves these goals?
Although I agree that the NHS has laudable aims, it is surely obvious that so many years later patient demand far outstrips the availability of General Practitioners, nurses and hospital professionals. Unquestionably, this is not scare mongering because there is increasing evidence that family doctors are suffering stress due to mounting workloads. …show more content…
You have the issue of health tourism which is “people who have travelled with a deliberate intention to obtain free healthcare to which they are not entitled.” This is a huge problem for the NHS as it reportedly costs about £200m a year. To make matters even worse, some British citizens are not helping the NHS as they receive treatment for drug addiction which costs the NHS an unbelievable £488m a year. The figures unfortunately get even worse as Public Health statistics reveal that alcohol misuse costs the NHS £3.5billion in just one year. But it does not stop there because smokers who need treatment cost the NHS approximately £6billion a year! As can be seen from just these three areas, the NHS is put under immense financial pressure to try and help everyone. It is appalling that these foreigners and British citizens are so …show more content…
In fact it has been ranked as the best out of the world’s wealthiest countries. This included nine European countries, one of which is Germany, New Zealand, Australia and the US. Also, it is worth keeping in mind that our healthcare service is free for must UK residents (depending on your entitlement) unlike the world’s wealthiest Nation, America. Another advantageous feature of the NHS is that everyone has equal shares to care and so the rich are not given any priority over the poor and so the NHS in this way does restore some of its pride by following its principles.
Therefore, to conclude, the NHS does meet its principle upon which it was founded, to meet the needs of everyone, but only to an extent as it is currently struggling. The NHS is abused by too many; this must stop in order for it to be successful and will require government action. I do believe that the state of the NHS will get worse unless it changes its