As we in the United States debate the issue of national health insurance, it can be informative to "look in on" what is happening in countries that already have it. I have been enjoying a blog from the UK called "The Changing NHS" by a gentleman named Steve Pashley.Steve is a management consultant and freely admits, "The initial reason I started 'The Changing NHS' was to try and attract more potential clients to my consulting site. But now, over 12 months in, I'd say that the main benefit for me flows from the need to be much clearer about what I think about change management and the NHS."
He provides insights like this:
The Healthcare Commission recently released the results of its’ annual survey of 128,000 NHS staff across England. According to the Guardian Society,only 42% would be happy with standards at their own establishment. A quarter said they would be definitely unhappy and 34% did not have a view. Just under half the staff in hospitals said care of patients was their trust's top priority, but 25% said it was not.
Check out Steve's blog, and draw your own conclusions. There is good and bad in the U.K. system, just like our own.
4 comments:
But, which is better?
Of course, we should define "better" first.
Julio Mayol
BTW, Paul, what do you think of the Spanish NHS? It provides universal coverage for over 43 million people, investing about 7% of the NGP in health care.
Politicians here usually say that we have one of the best health care systems among western countries...
Would americans accept waiting lists or not being able to choose their surgeon in exchange for equity of access?
Julio Mayol
Thanks, Julio. I think the answer is "no", but I will let others give their opinions
Hi Paul,
Many thanks for the mention. Much appreciated. I enjoy reading your blog and find it gives me lots of food for thought. Not least as I spent 2 years working for a US not for profit in the early 90'.
I was Organization Development Fellow at Fairview Health Services, Mpls in the early 90s working for Rick Norling, now president & CEO of Premier Inc.
Best
Steve
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