Civitas Release: Obama Should Look to Europe, not NHS

With all the talk about Healthcare reform taking place in the United States this recent publication from Civitas in the United Kingdom is perfectly timed. The organization offers their thoughts and lessons to learn from the mistakes of the National Health Service in the United Kingdom

The claims by both sides in the emerging furore on US health system reform and the value of government-run systems such as the NHS are clouded in ideology and misrepresentation, according to independent think tank Civitas.

• The NHS is not ‘evil’ (Sarah Palin), nor leaves the old and disabled “to die” (IBD), nor something ‘not to be wished on anyone’ (Daniel Hannan).There are plenty of people who will have received world-class health care from the NHS and its staff and – as the Twitter campaign £welovethenhs shows – are very grateful for it.
• The NHS is not ‘loved more than words can say’ (Sarah Brown), nor is it a service where ‘quality is as good as anywhere in the world; and where outcomes are as good as anywhere in the world’ (Andrew Lansley).In an individual ward or hospital this claim may stand up, but across the board it does not. The evidence suggests European health systems outperform both the NHS and the US. (see table below)

Read the full press release here, and be sure to read their study, Putting Patients Last: How the NHS keeps the ten commandments of business failure.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 18th, 2009 at 9:00 AM. It is filed under Europe, U.S. & Canada and tagged with Civita, healtcare, National Health Service, NHS, Obamacare, United Kindgom, United States. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.