Doctors rate NHS as best in the world

By Jeremy Laurance

Thursday, 5 November 2009

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Britain's family doctors, not noted for their optimism about the NHS, delivered a boost to the Government yesterday by rating the health care delivered in the UK as equal to the best in the world.

A survey of more than 10,000 primary care doctors in 11 countries worldwide found that the NHS was ranked top in six categories, including biggest improvement in quality of care, and close to the top in most of the rest by the frontline staff who deliver the care. Its lowest ranking was on the level of bureaucracy.

The annual survey by the US Commonwealth Fund, published in the journal Health Affairs, was welcomed by ministers for demonstrating that the massive investment in the NHS over the last decade has paid dividends. The 11 countries involved in the survey were Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, the US and the UK.

The Health Secretary Andy Burnham, who is visiting Washington, congratulated NHS staff on a "magnificent achievement". He said: "This is an important moment for the NHS. The journey to overhaul the quality of care over the last 10 years has paid off."

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Comments

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cm999 wrote:

Thursday, 5 November 2009 at 08:17 am (UTC)

And probably the best paid in the world if you are a GP too.

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Doctors really rate the UK NHS

frigalo wrote:

Thursday, 5 November 2009 at 10:10 am (UTC)

They would woudn't they. Huge salary hike and the shirking off of all responsibility for out of hours care.
Give us a an overview of a day in the life of a patient, say in Europe, compared to one in the UK. Then we can have a better grasp of just what is going on with the NHS and the where the money is being syphoned. No wonder the rest of the world's doctors highly rate the UK want to work in it asap - its raining money, for some.

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NHS is best in World

colinru wrote:

Thursday, 5 November 2009 at 12:29 pm (UTC)

For anyone who believes this study is valid, I have a bridge for sale at a very reasonable price!

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I've read the study, it's VERY flawed

krissi1975 wrote:

Thursday, 5 November 2009 at 02:31 pm (UTC)

To begin with, the UK response rate was around 20%, much lower than in most other countries. One cannot generalise from that. Also, some ratings are entirely subjective, without stating concrete values, e.g. when physicians are asked whether their patients experience long waiting times for specialist services. UK GPs don't think their patients have to wait long, while German GPs often think theirs have to wait long. Problem is, as the study even mentions on p.w1176, other studies have shown that the patients think it's exactly the other way round (the British often wait, the Germans don't feel they have to wait). I have lived most of my life in Germany and many years in Britain and know for a fact that the German system is one of the best for access to specialist care (which is well documented in the academic literature), and waiting times in the NHS are just unacceptable. GPs in both countries live in two different worlds, what the Germans think is problematic might well be best practice in the UK. There are many examples: Germans complain that they have to wait a week for a CT scan, while in Britain everyone waits 2 months and this is seen as excellent standards.

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blessedrs wrote:

Friday, 13 November 2009 at 08:43 pm (UTC)

Is this article based on a press release from the government? It certainly reads like spin, if you compare it with the full report: http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/full/28/6/w1171

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