Socialized Medicine: British National Health Service Is World’s Best Healthcare System - Guardian/RS

[WillyT]

Socialized medicine: British National Health Service is world’s best healthcare system
By Denis Campbell, The Guardian'RawStory
Wednesday, June 18, 2014 8:26 EDT

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The NHS has been declared the world’s best healthcare system by an international panel of experts who rated its care superior to countries which spend far more on health.

The same study also castigated healthcare provision in the US as the worst globally. Despite putting the most money into health, America denies care to many patients in need because they do not have health insurance and is also the poorest at saving the lives of people who fall ill, it found.

The report has been produced by the Commonwealth Fund, a Washington-based foundation which is respected around the world for its analysis of the performance of different countries’ health systems. It examined an array of evidence about performance in 11 countries, including detailed data from patients, doctors and the World Health Organisation.

“The United Kingdom ranks first overall, scoring highest on quality, access and efficiency,” the fund’s researchers conclude in their 30-page report. Their findings amount to a huge endorsement of the health service, especially as it spends the second-lowest amount on healthcare among the 11 – just £2,008 per head, less than half the £5,017 in the US. Only New Zealand, with £1,876, spent less.

In the Commonwealth Fund study the UK came first out of the 11 countries in eight of the 11 measures of care the authors looked at. It got top place on measures including providing effective care, safe care, co-ordinated care and patient-centred care. The fund also rated the NHS as the best for giving access to care and for efficient use of resources.

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More: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/06/18/socialized-medicine-british-national-health-service-is-worlds-best-healthcare-system/

[Ron Green]

1. Please consider connecting with your state's single-payer

advocacy group. State by state is how we'll get there.

[lovuian]

2. This is reality

America's Healthcare system is broken and failing

Even the VA system needs help

Why? because we are spending WAY to much on Healthcare and the costs need to come down
and insurances are out of control

It's killing our economy and way of life

[leftstreet]

3. DURec

[iandhr]

4. Thought I remember seeing France as #1 a few years ago.

Of course France has universal healthcare as well.

[Uncle Joe]

5. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, WillyT.

[IronLionZion]

6. NHS is not single payer.

For those who didn't know. It really is socialized medicine over there including government providers and flat pricing on prescription drugs.

However, he warned that the service’s achievements were now at risk. “We should not be complacent as we are facing pressures that are threatening the high-quality care that the Commonwealth Fund has rightly praised. A combination of rising patient demand, staff shortages and falling funding is undermining the very foundations of the NHS, as is the constant short-term interference from politicians of all colours.”

If we ever do finally move forward towards single payer or some other truly universal system, don't think for a second that the fight stops there. Conservatives will ALWAYS cut funding and limit coverage and impose draconian reforms to f it up purely for spite. It's what they do. If you are truly committed to the cause, be prepared to fight on policy against GOP for every single penny and every single treatment option for the rest of your life. Treatment for HIV patients is one example of a completely ridiculous fight the conservatives put up currently in our public health programs. Allowing funding for screenings for many serious illnesses but not treatment is another maddening example. It would be great if we as a country were as politically liberal as the other developed countries wouldn't it?

http://www.pnhp.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermont_health_care_reform#Green_Mountain_Care