A new report, “The NHS: How does it compare?”, from The Economist Intelligence Unit (The EIU) has found that the UK has fewer doctors, nurses, hospital beds and crucial medical equipment than most other wealthy nations.
The report ranks the UK’s healthcare system against those of other wealthy countries in the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) in terms of spending, resourcing and outcomes. Resourcing emerges as the biggest issue for the UK Government. Although staffing is the biggest single cost for the NHS, the UK had just 2.8 doctors and 8.2 nurses per 10,000 population in 2012, compared with OECD averages of 3.2 and 8.9.
For physical resources, the UK ranked near the bottom of the OECD league. The UK has just 2.8 hospital beds per 1,000 population against an OECD average of 4.8. As for equipment, such as computerised tomography (CT) scanners and magnetic resonance image (MRI) units, the UK’s density, at 6.8 and 8.7 per million population, is less than half the OECD average.
Overall, The EIU report ranks the UK at just 28th out of 30 OECD countries for healthcare resourcing, whereas it ranks 16th out of 30 on healthcare spending.
Other findings from the report include:
- The UK is mediocre in terms of outcomes. Life expectancy is lower than in countries such as Japan, where older people are also healthier than in Britain. The UK’s cancer mortality rates are also higher than the OECD average, although diabetes outcomes are good.
- One area where the UK does well is equity. The NHS principle of free care at the point of use means the gap between the care received by those on low incomes and those on higher incomes is smaller than in most other OECD countries.
“Although recruitment has already picked up, it is clear that NHS resources are very stretched compared with those in other OECD countries,” says Ana Nicholls, the report’s author. “A tight government budget will make it hard for politicians to fulfil their promises of extra funding, but resourcing will only become a bigger issue as the population ages. Nevertheless, there are areas where the UK could be getting better value for its money, such as better links between local and national commissioning systems, and better coordination between health and social services. The Government will need to tackle these challenges without causing more disruption to NHS services.”
Commenting on the report, Dr Mark Porter, BMA council chair, said: “This study once again highlights the stark reality of the pressures facing the NHS...The EUI’s warning about the levels of staffing across the NHS comes as the BMA’s latest research shows that in the last year just over a quarter of doctors have considered leaving the profession, while a third of GPs are considering retiring from general practice in the next five years.”
The full report is available at www.eiu.com/nhscomparison
