The National Health Service has provided world class care, free at the point of use, to the British people for 66 years. It was recently rated as the most effective and most efficient healthcare system in the developed world, outperforming 10 of the world’s richest countries, despite the UK spending only 9.6 per cent of GDP on health – much less than most of those countries.
Under the Coalition government, the health budget has been maintained in an era of unprecedented austerity. However, historic annual increases in the health budget, designed to keep pace with a growing and ageing population, have been severely reduced – meaning that our NHS has just been through the longest, and most damaging budget squeeze in its history.
Thousands of patients are facing longer and even unacceptable waits to find out whether or not they have cancer, because services are under extreme pressure and referral targets are being missed. In mental health, patients in need of emergency support are being moved to hospitals hundreds of miles away because there simply are not enough beds in their area.
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/the-nhs-timebomb-nhs-and-social-care-services-areat-breaking-point-it-cannot-go-on-9775928.html
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