Evidence we should sell the NHS for scrap

We’re told that things are bad and getting worse:

Children in the UK will grow up to be one of the unhealthiest generations in decades, with child health outcomes having declined or stalled completely across all areas, a group of leading paediatricians has said.

Reduced vaccination rates alongside rising hospital admissions for asthma and mental health disorders are all contributing factors to the UK’s record on children’s health, which should be seen as a “national embarrassment”, their analysis has found.

The report, published by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH), analysed 12 globally recognised indicators of child health and wellbeing including infant mortality rates, oral health, obesity, vaccination rates, the prevalence of mental health disorders and asthma rates. Child health outcomes across the UK had significantly stagnated across all metrics, portraying the UK’s children as among the unhealthiest in western Europe.

We do have a system which is meant to deal with most of these things. That National Health Service. No other Western European country does it quite the way we do therefore it could be - we know, we know, criticism of “Our NHS” is tantamount to treason these days - that it’s the system itself that is at fault.

“The UK’s record on children’s health should be a national embarrassment,” said Dr Helen Stewart, the RCPCH officer for health improvement. “Across western Europe, many other countries are achieving better outcomes for children, yet too many children here are being left behind. The State of Child Health report shows that we are categorically failing children in the UK, but especially those from ethnic minorities and poorer backgrounds.”

If this is all true then the solution becomes obvious. Sell the NHS for scrap and institute something like one of those Western European nations that do so much better. Something like, say, rather a lot of government financing of health care and very little direct government provision of health care?

Yes, yes, we know, such suggestions are tantamount to treason and all that. And yet it’s the very doctors themselves insisting that the current system doesn’t work. Shouldn’t we listen to the evidence?

Tim Worstall