The issue is especially unfortunate when applied to the NHS. Despite what the Americans think the NHS is the finest idea in medical provision in the world - treatment is free at the point of use. But that means very high demand - wants are infinite and free is the price that gets that level of demand. But the budget of the NHS is limited by what the government can afford.
Therefore not all treatments can be afforded by the NHS and they have to make a choice about which to provide.
The article below tells of the provision of a cancer treatment for children. At £210,000 its just too much to be given to everyone. Of course this is a value judgement, but an excellent of scarcity, choice and opportunity cost.
There's been a never ending noise on how much the NHS should have, how they should spend their money and so on. In my opinion, the NHS is one of the best ideas since sliced bread, however it has its problems. One problem is that it can never be of the same standard as private care- you get what you pay for. This is why the Republicans are dead against free healthcare. The quality of care will go down. Also, this means the NHS have to be careful about what they spend their money on. For example, obesity is one of the growing issues in the UK and the NHS are spending more and more money each year on dealing with people who have this disease. Although sad, the NHS have to think about whether they should save ten people with obesity, or one child with this form of cancer with the same amount of money- debatable. I personally wouldn't know what to do if I was a politician. But it makes me wonder why people take the NHS for granted and get so smashed at the weekends, damaging themselves. In the US it's not as easy, you don't pay- you die.
ReplyDeleteInstead of spending billions on an unwanted disastrous reorganisation, when the NHS is facing big squeezes in spending, can't the Government use the money to reinvest it in the NHS budget to pay for things like this. Doesn't this piece show that to cope with scarcity and big pressures, the NHS needs to look at things it needs and things it does not need. It also needs to stop things like overstaying in beds which spends millions of pounds.
ReplyDeleteDavid Witchell (wont let me log in)
ReplyDeleteI agree with leeza that the NHS needs to decide who to help, but i would argue that we should be even more strict with people who are careless and waste the NHS times and money. I strongly believe that the NHS should not waste time on fat people (unless it is a result of genetics or disability)or people who ruin themselves with alcohol (unless it is a result of depression or insanity) and with the money saved save the children who need help for a disease they did not earn nor deserve. I believe it is hideously immoral that parents can just neglect the health of their child, get it fat then scam the state for health care when there are children who are told they are going to die for no reason and are not legible for help.
perhaps a bit strong, but I bet we all feel this to a certain level.
No need to log in, just comment, it should work
ReplyDeleteI think that the underlying issue here is that the government and the NHS themselves are unsure of what and what not to invest in. This immediately opens them up for criticism; making it hard for them to come to a reasonable decision which pleases most people. The easiest and most controversial thing to do would be to start charging patients for health care. The opportunity cost of free health care in this country is either the quality of health care, or what to cater to i.e. which treatments are available on the NHS.
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