LETTER: Our NHS model is not sustainable
There are some uncomfortable truths in a recent King’s Fund Report comparing the NHS with 19 other countries’ health services. Our endless cycle of cash injections into the NHS is not working. The report does not envy our NHS, many countries do health better, some worse.
In the UK, our life expectancy is lower, death from heart attacks and strokes higher. We have below average rates for several cancers’ recovery rates. Less beds and MRI scanners and chronic staff problems – an estimated 112,000 NHS posts are unfilled. There are delays in diagnostics and new equipment, social care and bureaucratic discharge processes.
In a time of stretched public finances and high inflation, we can ill afford to throw more money at the problem. As our UK population ages and demand increases, the current NHS model and management have become increasingly unsustainable.
The problems facing the UK are huge, yet our politics has never been so small and unable to provide solutions. Bigger state and more government is not the answer.
Doug James, West Midlands
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