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How Good is the NHS? report reveals mixed picture in performance quality

According to new UK analysis by four leading think tanks, the NHS has 'markedly fewer' nurses and doctors compared with other similar countries
How Good is the NHS?

According to new UK analysis by four leading think tanks, the NHS has 'markedly fewer' nurses and doctors compared with other similar countries. Research also finds:

  • High rates of child mortality around birth
  • Below-average performance for some major illnesses
  • Lower levels of healthcare spending
  • Good performance in managing certain long-term health problems

Teams from the Nuffield Trust (NT), Health Foundation (HF), Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) and The King's Fund (KF) have found that the NHS does not perform as well as similar countries on the overall rate at which people die when successful medical care could have saved their lives.

How Good is the NHS?

In the report How Good Is The NHS? the authors argue that the health service also has other notable weaknesses.

Major illnesses concern

The NHS is a consistently below-average performer for some major illnesses and not doing as well as its counterparts at saving the lives of patients with many of the most common and lethal illnesses.

The teams found that the UK health service performs worse than the average in the treatment of eight out of the 12 most common causes of death.

These include deaths within 30 days of having a heart attack and within five years of being diagnosed with breast cancer, rectal cancer, colon cancer, pancreatic cancer and lung cancer, despite narrowing the gap in recent years.

Other findings

The researchers also found:

  • The UK has 'markedly fewer' doctors and nurses compared with other countries.
  • The UK has high rates of child mortality around birth.
  • Healthcare spending in the UK is slightly lower than the average in the 18 comparable countries studied.
  • It also has fewer CT scanners and MRI machines.

The authors wrote: 'The NHS does not have especially good outcomes relative to other wealthy countries.

'For the most important illnesses in directly causing death, it is a consistently below-average performer.'

The authors added: 'The reality is that the NHS is not doing as well as its counterparts at saving the lives of patients with many of the most common and lethal illnesses.'

Strengths of NHS also highlighted

However, the report did note the NHS has some significant strengths compared to other health systems, including:

  • Being 'relatively efficient' with low administrative costs and high use of cheaper generic medicines.
  • Protecting people from the heavy financial costs of healthcare.
  • Performing well in managing certain long-term health problems such as diabetes.

Meanwhile, waiting times in the UK appear to be in line with similar countries and patient experience generally compares well.

'Perfectly ordinary healthcare system'

IFS director Paul Johnson said: 'The truth about the NHS is that by international standards it is a perfectly ordinary healthcare system, providing average levels of care for a middling level of cost.

'Access is good and people are protected from high costs, but its performance in treating people with cancer is poor, and international comparisons suggest too many people in the UK die when good medical care could have saved their lives.'

NT chief executive Nigel Edwards said the report painted a mixed picture, while HF chief executive Jennifer Dixon added that the UK has 'middling funding and middling performance overall'.

Areas for further improvement

King's Fund chief executive Chris Ham said: 'The UK stands out in removing financial barriers to people accessing care but needs to do better in improving health outcomes.'

An NHS England spokesperson said: 'The report rightly highlights areas for further improvements, which need to be addressed head-on in the NHS's long-term plan for the decade ahead.'

A Department for Health and Social Care spokesperson said: 'We are taking strong action to help people live longer and healthier lives – cancer survival is at a record high while smoking rates are at an all-time low, and the independent Commonwealth Fund has ranked the NHS as the best and safest healthcare system in the world out of 11 countries.'

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