National Health Service UK: Remit, Ethos, Key Components, and Changes

The National Health Service in the UK provides affordable healthcare service to everyone regardless of their wealth. It is based on three core principles: accessibility, affordability, and clinical need. The service has seven basic components that guide the service as well as the NHS patients. The Health and Social Care Act 2012 brought the most extensive reforms of the NHS since it was established. The reform puts clinicians at the centre of contracting, frees up the providers for innovation, empowers the patients and offers a new focus to the public health.

NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE
UNITED KINGDOM

INTRODUCTION
The National Health Service had been created based on the
idea of providing good healthcare to the citizens of UK. The
chief aim was that affordable healthcare service must be
available to everyone regardless of their wealth (Samuel
2016). The National Health Service was established on July 5
1948 by the contemporary health minister, Aneurin Bevan.
From beginning the service had ethos which was based on
these three core principles:

REMIT AND ETHOS
• The service will be accessed by everyone irrespective
of class
• The National Health Service will be free
• It is basically a clinical need and not the ability to pay.

KEY COMPONENTS
There are seven basic components that guides the service as well
as the NHS patients.
• The service provides a complete service available to all its
citizens.
• Accessing the service is based on the medical need of the
patients and not their capability for payment (Nolan et al. 2014).
• The NHS has aspiration to provide an excellent service and
professionalism

KEY COMPONENTS
• Total preferences will be given on the patients
• For serving the interest of wider population,
local communities and the patients, the service
works collaboratively with other organization
• Providing best value for the taxpayer’s money
a sustainable usage of resources (Glied and
Altman 2017).
• It is accountable to the patients, communities
and public.

SUMMARY OF THE KEY CHANGES:
The Health and
Social Care Act
2012 had been first
published on June
2012 and
implemented from
April 2013. This Act
brought the most
extensive reforms
of the NHS since it

KEY CHANGES:
The reform puts clinicians at the
centre of contracting, frees up the
providers for innovation, empowers
the patients and offers a new focus to
the public health. The Act discusses
the following themes:
• strengthening of the commissioning
of NHS services

KEY CHANGES
• increasing the democratic
accountability along with
public voice
• liberating the provision of NHS
services
• strengthening the public
health services
• reformation of health and care

KEY CHANGES • An updated NHS
Constitution was
published on April 2013
that follow a consultation
to seek views on a large
number of the proposed
changes (Colbert et al.
2015) Important areas,
which were improved:
• patient involvement
• Complaints

KEY CHANGES
• staff rights, responsibilities and commitments
• patient information
• end of life care
• Feedback
• duty of candour
• end of life care
• integrated care
• dignity, respect and compassion

CONCLUSION
The service is provided to people irrespective of
gender, class, race, age disability, religion, pregnancy,
maternity, sexual orientation and reassignment, civil
partnership. It is designed for diagnosing, treating and
improving both mental and physical health. It respects
and serves all maintain human rights.

REFERENCES
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management of cleft lip and palate in the United Kingdom. Have we reached the
turning point?. British Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, 53(7), pp.594-598.
• Glied, S.A. and Altman, S.H., 2017. Beyond antitrust: health care and health insurance
market trends and the future of competition. Health Affairs, 36(9), pp.1572-1577.
• Nolan, J.P., Soar, J., Smith, G.B., Gwinnutt, C., Parrott, F., Power, S., Harrison, D.A., Nixon,
E. and Rowan, K., 2014. Incidence and outcome of in-hospital cardiac arrest in the
United Kingdom National Cardiac Arrest Audit. Resuscitation, 85(8), pp.987-992.
• Samuel, R. ed., 2016. Routledge Revivals: Patriotism: The Making and Unmaking of
British National Identity (1989): Volume I: History and Politics. Routledge

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