The UK Has Four Different NHS Systems, England Is The Poor Relative

Editor's Choice
Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 03 Jan 2008 - 6:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   view / write opinions   rate article

The NHS (National Health Service) systems in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales are all different, with varying priorities, says Gill Morgan, of the NHS Confederation. As the years go by the differences between the four will grow, Morgan believes.

Morgan, in a BBC interview, said "We basically have four different systems, albeit with the same set of values."

The English NHS

Here there is contestability and choice. Outside organizations have been invited in. Patients have the opportunity to shop around.

The Scottish NHS

A more collectivist system. Means-testing has been discarded. Free personal care is the focus. Waiting times are worse than in England. There is less tension between managers and doctors, compared to England.

The Northern Ireland NHS

Health and social care is more integrated.

The Welsh NHS

Emphasis on free prescriptions.

Morgan says that each system has its advantages. Time will tell which one is best.

The Patients Association says the English NHS has become the poor relation. Devolution has left an ever growing gap between the NHS in England and the NHS in other parts of the UK. In other words, it believes the NHS in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales are getting better at a faster rate than the NHS in England.

While elderly patients in Scotland enjoy free personal care, and those in Wales enjoy free prescriptions, patients in England are means tested for personal care and have to pay for prescriptions.

The Patients Association
The NHS Confederation

Written by - Christian Nordqvist
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today