Health Econimics and Policy - Essay Example

ining both the advantages and disadvantages of the NHS will lead to a better understanding of the NHS and it may lead to possible ideas for improvement of the NHS. I will begin my discussion of the NHS with its advantages, including its purpose and some of the things that are free. Then consequences of the NHS will be explained, including long waiting times, unfair payments, some parts of health care not being included for free, problems getting enough funding, and perceived similarity to communism.

Finally, based on these consequences, some potential solutions will be described. To begin with positive aspects of the NHS, one of the biggest advantages has to do with the reason this organisation was created. The point of the NHS is to give health care to everyone in England, whether they are rich or poor. (Wikipedia, 2008 from NHS website). Instead of health care being a luxury for people with money, the NHS considers it a necessity and a human right. One of the good things about the NHS is that general practitioner visits are free even though some people think they should not be.

People need to get referrals from general practitioners to see specialists. “It has been argued that a nominal charge for an appointment with a GP could be introduced to prevent patients consulting their GP with minor real or imaginary complaints.” (Wikipedia, 2008). If general practitioner visits were not free, though, many people who did not know how much they really needed to go might put their health at risk by skipping the visit to save money. This is a case where it is better to be safe than sorry.

Another advantage of the NHS is that it does not require more money from people choosing to do things that make them have more health problems. Some people think that they should not have to help pay for the costs of a smoker who gets lung cancer because that person chose to smoke. (Rodgers, 2003). I am glad that smokers and other people do not have to pay more because