Health Care System in the United Kingdom and its Features - Essay Example

Running Head: Health care system in UK Health care system in UK of the of the of the Introduction -Health care system in UK and its features Healthcare in United Kingdom is a wholesome system that has developed remarkably in the past few years and the process is continuing till date. The four countries England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland runs there own network of public as well as private health care programs to provide the residents with maximum medical benefits. At time of exigencies the health facilities are made available for free and the charges are paid by the money collected from general taxation. The World Health Organization ranked UK healthcare system as the 15th best in Europe and 18th across the world. (World Health Organization) A major part of overall health care services are provided by the National Health Service (NHS) in England which is publicly funded. The Department of Health also shares the responsibility of providing medical facilities to residents of UK. The charges are applicable in case of dental treatment, eye care services, personal care and prescriptions. The responsibility of delivering medical facilities lies on 10 "Strategic Health Authorities" of NHS. They monitor and maintain the quality of services and development plans for area based improvement in healthcare industry. There are trusts and other entities that monitor further healthcare requirements. The Social care service responsibilities are shared with the localized NHS branches and also weith "Government Directors of Social Services" who are guided by the Department of Health. The "National Health Service Act 1946" was implemented on 5 July 1948 as a result of which the private healthcare system continues side by side with the NHS. A large section of the expenses is paid by insurance policies although it is utilized by only 8% of the country's population. (Survey of the general public's views on NHS system reform in England) There are 2 major trusts in NHS that reflect the provider as well as purchaser tole. The "Commissioning trust" looks after the local requirements and negotiates with the service provider for medical facilities in the area. There are "Provider trust" that are a part of NHS and delivers the services to masses. "Primary Care Trust" is the most renowned commissioning trust which provides services like community nursing, meantal healthcare, general physicians and local clinics. Primary care services are delivered by the large group of independent vendors like the optometrists, dentists, GPs and pharmacists. As a matter of fact they are the main point of contact for common people. Acute healthcare or secondary care are basically sought after in case of exigencies although most of them is provided by the NHS. The Constitution of NHS encapsulates all the obligations and rights of the healthcare professionals and patients, most of which are legally. NHS services are quite popularly sought after by the masses in UK. In a survey performed in the year 2004 it was revealed that the NHS users were extremely satisfied with the medical experiences among which there were 92% in-patients 87% outpatients of hospitals, 70% emergency and accident services and 87% GP consumers. There was a statement "My local NHS is providing me with a good service" which was supported by 67% of the total survey participants. (NHS 2004 survey) The recent in-patients are noticeably happier than the common public which shows the improvement ion quality of services provided. The shortcoming of getting surgical treatment at the private hospitals is that they are capable of managing the general operations and often the patients are suggested shifting to the NHS hospital in case of exigencies which increases the risk factor for the patients by delaying the surgery. In Wales and England around 749 emergency patients' shifting occurred only in the year 1999 worth around 2.61 million pounds to NHS which is surely wastage of monetary resources. (Triggle, 2008) Similar services like NHS are provided by the "Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland" (HSC) which is publicly funded and administers all facilities related to social care and public health. A Permanent Secretary heads this department under which comprises of a number of groups and an agency. These groups include "Primary, Secondary and Community Care Group", "Planning and Resources Group", "5 Professional Groups" and "Strategic Planning and Modernisation Group". In Scotland majority of medical services are provided by the "NHS Scotland", established in 1948 which happens to be a separate institution from the other public health services of UK. Often patients are unable to distinguish the difference as the level of coordination and cooperation is quite high. NHS Wales is the provider of most healthcare services in the country. Under the National Health Service Act 1946, this organization was formed following the same structure of NHS. The responsibility of this organization is handled by Welsh Assembly Government and Welsh Assembly. (The National Health Service in Scotland) Common features of the public healthcare systems in UK include the following: General physicians and hospitals: In order to provide primary healthcare to the patients GP or General Practitioners are provided by the NHS. For specialized surgical, mental or diagnostic services hospitals are referred. Exigencies and accident cases are also taken care of by the hospitals. Ambulance service: In case of emergency medical requirements ambulance services are provided free of cost to the patients. To supplement these services there are voluntary service providers like "St Andrews Ambulance Association", "St John Ambulance" and "British Red Cross". Those who require patient transportation services by air can avail it from "Scottish Ambulance Service" that operates through out Wales and England. In emergency situations aircrafts of military, naval department or air force are also provided. Dentistry: NHS services include dental healthcare and there are several private practitioners who provides treatment at a specific rate set by the NHS. The private treatment do not receive any subsidized rate for this. (Davis) Pharmacy: Most of the privately owner pharmacies are bound in contract with NHS which provides prescription medicines at a nominal cost. Recovery of Cost in abnormal circumstance: NHS reserves the claim for compensation rights. In England as well as in wales the same scheme applies. The rate or standard cost applicable for the out-patient hospital visits is '566, for in-patient treatment it is '695 and '171 for ambulance services. The health care policies in UK have undergone noticeable improvements in the last decade. A formal constitution adopted by The NHS clearly states all main objectives responsibilities and rights of medical professionals and patients. NSH services cover all related facilities which are made available to people irrespective of their age, race, gender, religion, disability, sexual orientation etc. The services are accessible according to the medical needs of an individual and not restricted by his ability to bear expenses. NHS system aims to provide highest quality of medical services ensuring effective and safe treatment. The preferences and specific requirements are given priority by the NHS. Often to help wider range of UK population, the NHS services are extended to local communities and patients. Certain rights are provided to the patients that include access to free and non-discriminatory healthcare from any of the UK NHS service providers, treatment with professional care in a an appropriate ambience, consent and confidentiality of the patient's information etc. (Department of Health) The costs involved in public health care in England are quite nominal and most of the time free for the UK residents. Although there are certain costs related to the dental or eye treatments and several other cases but overall the services are cost-effective enough to fit in a common man's budget. But the private healthcare is comparatively costly. Most of the private hospitals in UK do not have an in-house medical practitioner for the night; they are available on call only wherein the public hospitals house far better resources for the patients. At times the public healthcare system is funded by the employers with the help of the medical insurances. But these days the private sector is into some kind of sub-contracting terms with NHS which makes medical facilities more convenient and affordable to the patients. Benefits and Drawbacks of UK healthcare system There are several benefits of the healthcare system in UK. NHS intends to provide great quality healthcare facilities almost free of cost to residents of UK which include refugees, overseas students excluding tourists. Despite of few shortcomings the NHS system is marked as a national pride for UK. Around 99% of British populace is registered under NHS and all of them receive services like in and out patient treatment at hospitals and visits to doctors. Priority groups like children, pensioners or people from lower income group receive free eye and dental treatments. The social healthcare program is well-developed and functions as an integral part of medical system. The NHS system is funded by the government and it features much better facilities compared to the private system. In spite of the fact that in UK the expenditure on healthcare has increased about 7.3% in the year 2001 but it is lagging behind the other European countries. But when it comes to cost-effective treatment UK is ranked 18th among total 191 countries. The British population does not consider the private healthcare better over public healthcare system. In both the sectors almost same practitioners practice although the cost involved differs remarkably which is obviously high in private organizations. Those patients with insurance coverage might take interest in choosing the private healthcare services but when it comes to getting quality services, NHS is much better. The waiting time for non-emergency surgeries is little high in NHS system and at times the private sector healthcare units feature better accommodation facilities- these are two major reasons which some people get choose private over NHS. (Iversen, 1997) Comparison among health care systems in England, North Ireland, Wales and Scotland Cost-effectiveness: "National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE)" has set certain guidelines for the physicians about tteating different patinet conditions and also about the fuinding of treatments. The "Scottish Medicines Consortium" holds the responsibility to advise the NHS in scotland. Licensing and formulation of medicines, rules for vaccination are all suggested by it. Cost controlling: In other countries except Scotland, the National Audit Office submits a report yearly on the consolidated and summarized account of NHS. For NHS Scotland all similar functions are handled by Audit Scotland. Charges for prescriptions: The charges of prescriptions vary in four countries in UK. In England ' 7.2 is the charge payable for each item though prescription drugs are free for patients below the age of 16 years and above the age of 59 years. Other exemptions also exist depending on the type of ailment. For Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland the prescription fees are either eliminated or on the process of this. Role of private sector in public healthcare: The role of private sector is increasing significantly in England wherein the scenario is completely different in Scotland. Comparison of healthcare in UK and other countries like Malaysia The healthcare system in UK is considered much improved and organized compared to that of other countries like Malaysia, an Asian country. Though Malaysia features a two-tier healthcare system, the public healthcare is not as advanced as UK. Only 45% of the total number of practitioners serves the public sector medical institutions. In UK the NHS hospitals accommodate most advanced general as well as surgical facilities. The major operations and emergency care is much better in NHS system. The cost of prescribed drugs is much less in UK as they can be obtained at subsidized rate from the pharmacies with which NHS has tie-up. Incorporation of the GIS system in UK healthcare field ensures that the treatment procedures become more organized and specialized. (Higgs, 2005) In short the well-functioning and satisfactory medical system in UK has earned it excellent ranking across the world. Conclusion The health care system in UK is counted as one of the best functioning systems in the world although there are certain concerns which should be resolved at the earliest for the betterment of medical facilities. It is assumed that under-funding of the government for years have caused shortage of staffs and employment of underpaid low-skilled workers in the medical institutions. Often healthcare professionals feel frustrated with their working conditions. Staffs who are recruited from other countries often fail to communicate with patients and this is a reason of concern for them. Many of the rural hospitals have closed down for poor funding conditions that have restricted regional treatments. The poor maintenance of the hospitals and building has resulted into degrading public image of NHS. These problems can be successfully sorted out by little attention paid by the UK government. NHS being a government aided foundation should look at proper utilization of the resources. Wastages occurring due to emergency shifts of patients should be reduced immediately to save money. Many of the patients feel that the National Health Service is funded by huge taxation per year although the services provided do not meet the expectations. The response time is quite slow for NHS and the waiting time is pretty high for non-emergency surgeries. This is the reason why awareness of the government is required to enhance the effectiveness as well as quality of the services. Many skilled and veteran healthcare professionals like medical practitioners, midwives and nurses should be hired at the NHS hospitals for better treatment facilities. Excellent training and courses can be of real help for this matter. This is why more number of courses for professional medical training and higher education should be opened. Reviewing some of the policies will surely help in enhancing the overall healthcare system. Cost-effectiveness is the main advantage of the UK healthcare system which makes it much affordable than US systems. (Marshall, 2000) Elimination of simple shortcomings from this system will certainly turn it into an almost perfect system from all aspects. Reference: Davis, J. (Ed.). The social economics of health care, 2000th ed. Retrieved 2009.11.10 The National Health Service in Scotland, http://www.lhsa.lib.ed.ac.uk/histheal/nhs/index.html, Date accessed 2009.11.10 BMA. Survey of the general public's views on NHS system reform in England. http://www.bma.org.uk/ap.nsf/AttachmentsByTitle/PDFnhssystreform2007/$FILE/48751Surveynhsreform.pdf.' Date accessed 2009.11.10 Triggle, N., 2008 NHS now four different systems [online] BBC News Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7149423.stm [Accessed 12th November 2009 ] Department of Health. (2009) The NHS Constitution for England [online] http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_093419 [Accessed 12th November 2009] How TO Davies, Marshall, M. (2000) UK'and US'health-care systems: divided by more than a common language, The Lancet,'Volume 355, Issue 9201,'29 January 2000,'Page 336 Higgs, G. Darren P. Smith, Myles I. Gould (2005) Findings from a survey on GIS use in the'UK'National'Health'Service: organisational challenges and opportunities, Health'Policy,'Volume 72, Issue 1,'April 2005,'Pages 105-117 Iversen, T., (1997) The effect of a private sector on the waiting time in a'national health service, Journal of'Health'Economics,'Volume 16, Issue 4,'August 1997,'Pages 381-396 World Health Organization. (2000) The World Health Report 2000 [online] http://www.who.int/whr/2000/en/whr00_en.pdf [Accessed 12th November 2009] IPSOS-Mori. (2004) NHS 2004 survey. UK Department of Health. [Online] http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/FreedomOfInformation/Freedomofinformationpublicationschemefeedback/Classesofinformation/Communicationsresearch/DH_4129933'IdcService=GET_FILE&dID=16549&Rendition=Web. [Accessed 12th November 2009] Read More