A study comparing health spending and mortality rates suggests that the NHS is one of the most cost-effective health systems in the world. Dr Colin Pritchard of Bournemouth University and Dr Mark Wallace of Latymer School, London, compared the mortality rates of 19 Western countries between 1979 and 2005.
Researchers used a cost-effectiveness ratio to measure the efficiency and effectiveness of healthcare systems in cutting mortality rates. The UK’s cost effectiveness, assessed as health expenditure against mortality rate, was the second highest, behind Ireland. The researchers acknowledged that their findings were at odds with some widely-held assumptions about care in the NHS and other Western countries. They said: “It is hoped these results might be a boost to patients and their families in every Western country but especially those using the NHS, and that more recognition goes to UK frontline staff, who over the past 25 years, have achieved more with relatively less.’ Mortality in the UK fell significantly more than in 12 of the 19 other countries, assessed over the period studied. However, UK adult mortality rates were still the fifth highest in the countries assessed.
