Editorial - The NHS Is a Sinking Ship
In 1948, the socialist Labour Party government of the United Kingdom introduced a nationalised healthcare service provided by the government, called the National Health Service (NHS). It has been paid for by a combination tax and money borrowed with interest.
Between 1949 and 1950, the total spending on the NHS was 3.3% of the UK's total GDP. Between 2010 and 2011, it had risen 8.6% of GDP!
Just between 2009 and 2015, the deficit has been increasing rapidly, as illustrated in the graph below (in millions of GBP).w (in millions of GBP).
The government effectively has a monopoly on healthcare, so there is little real choice for consumers or competition in the market. Many reforms politicians promise to deliver are never actually fulfilled, the NHS is run, not by the people, but by the political and medical establishment.
Since the industry is nationalised, there is little motivation for effective cost-cutting innovation.
In 2013, the average person waited 72 days for cataract surgery, 89 days for a hip replacement and 95 days for knee replacement. There are currently 3.7 million people in the United Kingdom right now on a waiting list, waiting for health care.
People under the age of 55 are 2.5 times more likely than those over 75 to receive cancer treatments.
For all of the above reasons, Arrowe News has concluded that it is time for the UK government to finally get rid of the NHS. All UK citizens and residents should be required to obtain private medical insurance. They should receive private healthcare at privately owned hospitals. Any who are unable to obtain health insurance, for example due to poverty, they and only they, should be provided for by the government.