The NHS at 75

Health systems everywhere are still reeling from the effects of the pandemic,123 a fact shaping short term policies and election manifestos. But the consequences of covid-19 obscure profound chronic challenges that demand urgent attention from political and other leaders. Nowhere in western Europe is this more pressing than in the UK’s NHS, made vulnerable by chronically low investment and hit hard by the pandemic. Many key health outcomes are worse than many comparable rich countries.45 Beyond its 75th anniversary in July, what are the deeper issues to be tackled before the NHS’s centenary, and how should we respond?InvestmentEconomic growth powers health systems. Overall, real terms annual growth in UK government total health spending averaged 3.9% in England between 1978-79 and 2019-20.6 But growth slumped to around 2% a year in the austerity decade preceding the pandemic. Social care flatlined at best,7 and funding for public health has fallen by 26%…
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