University Economics Essay: Should the NHS Charge for Treatments?

This economics essay delves into the contentious issue of whether the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK should implement charges for treatments. The essay begins by outlining the current free-of-charge system and the core values of the NHS, emphasizing its commitment to patient welfare ...Read More

Week Table of Contents Page Learning
Outcome
Completed?
()
Portfolio Tasks
5 Organising your ideas
[suggested word count: varies per task] 4 LO 1 & 3
6 Making notes with confidence
(200 words) 6 LO 2
7 Developing your arguments
[suggested word count: varies per task] 8 LO 1, 2 & 3
8
Writing your argumentative essay
(900 words +/- 10%) 10 LO 1 & 3

9 Getting a First! 11 LO 1 & 3
Track your progress by ticking off each task as you complete it, in the final column.
PORTFOLIO TASK
Organising your ideas: Are my sources reliable?
In the space below, create an outline for your essay by making notes about any information you
find from class or reading list sources and from the two sources you found. Use bullet points and
not full sentences. Include in-text citations where necessary. You should add to this throughout
the course. (150 – 200 words)
Arguments in Favour (Yes) Arguments against (No)
Point 1
______
NHS has to charge from its patient
according to the financial capability of
patient, so that poor people can easily
afford all the expense services
NHS has spent 3 billion annually for
providing the treatment so it should not
charge from patient

Point 2
_____
NHS has faced lots of issues to reconcile
the expensive cost of knowledge and
technology. In the year 2012, the healthcare
budget was around £800 million which was
made significant cuts to it by Coalition
government. So idea of charging cost from
patient is right.
In England NHS is getting profit from
public sector and it income was
increased in 2016 upto 526 billion.
Therefore it can provide free treatment.
PORTFOLIO TASK
Making notes with confidence
This is an in-class activity. Use the space below to write notes as you listen to the talk.

Write a summary about what you have just listened to. (no more than 100 words)

Write a response to the opinions given. (no more than 100 words)
s
PORTFOLIO TASK
Developing your arguments: Paraphrasing/Summarising
Choose one aspect (e.g. Point 1 or 2) and summarise and/or paraphrase the main points you noted
in the outline on page 2. Use complete sentences and include in-text citations where necessary.
(150 – 200 words)
Arguments in favour (Yes):
NHS can charge from its patient according to their financial status so that patient can easily afford high
quality services (Francis, 2013). There are many new technology which is implemented by the NHS due to
this reason it unable to make moneys, so idea of charging money from patient is not bad. It can state that
NHS can charge fair price from the patient.
Arguments against (No):
One of the main purpose of NHS is to meet the needs of patients and it also earns lots of profit from public
sector, therefore it can easily provide high quality services to its patient at free of cost (Jones and Loader,
2016). further it also make huge profit from other sectors so idea of charging from patient is not good.

PORTFOLIO TASK
Developing your arguments: Combining sources
Using the summaries you wrote in the previous task, combine them below to create the first body
paragraph of your essay. Use the guide below to help you and highlight each part with the same
colour. (250 – 300 words)
Body paragraph 1
Say why this is a key issue (e.g. Economic/Social)
(this is your topic sentence)
What is the counter-argument of this issue?
(this is the opinion you do not agree with)
What is the main argument of this issue?
(this is your opinion)
 Why is your argument stronger than the counter-argument?
 What evidence/examples do you have to support this?
What can you conclude from this? What are the implications?
You should use at least 2 sources in this paragraph.
NHS should charge or not it is a key issue because there are many people who are poor and unable
to pay for quality services. On the other hand NHS spend on buying new technology and for
improving the quality services so they should charge from patient so that they can make profit.
NHS spend on new technology and providing high quality services. For instance, National health services
has faced many problems to reconcile the expensive cost of knowledge and technology (Jones and Loader,
2016). In the year 2012, the healthcare budget was around £800 million which was made significant cuts to
it by Coalition government.
It is concluded that NHS should charge fairly from the patient so that it not face the problem realted to
economics crisis.

PORTFOLIO TASK
Writing your argumentative essay
Using the same process you did for the first body paragraph, complete your essay below.
(900 words: +/- 10%)

Should the NHS charge for treatments?
INTRODUCTION
NHS (National health services) is department of health where treatment is given free to the citizens
of UK. At present NHS is not charging any money from the people. In this essay, the main highlight is on
giving free treatment to the people is suitable or not. The main services and health safety measures are
discussed.
Should NHS charge for treatment?
NHS (National Health Service) is another name of public health services of England. The value of
working together for patients is the main guiding service provided by NHS. It focuses more on the interest
of patients and give first priority to their interest than institutional interest. According to the past history,
UK does not charge its customers for providing most of the medical treatment. This health service does
not take any charge from its patients as it believes that people must remain healthy in order to provide
better productivity (Choices, 2013). NHS has to charge from its patients for providing various health
services. The charge must be in the range of every person so that poor people can afford expensive
treatment.
NHS has to spend £3 billion annually for providing the treatment of alcohol and smoking related
injuries. It is providing free services which includes Accident and Emergency care, dental services and
many more (Gallagher, Mctague, 2016). The main purpose of NHS is to meet the need of public which is
free in every aspects and it is not only based on payment ability but also on clinical needs. It is providing
comprehensive service to everyone irrespective of age, gender, religion, marital, maternity or civil
partnership status etc. The services are designed to improve and treat mental and physical health. It
focuses on providing high quality care which is safe and effective for the patients (England, 2013). It aims
to provide highest standards of excellence and professionalism. It treats every patient and staff member
with complete dignity and respect. This aspect ensures to maintain hospital’s values and respect through
considering various priorities, requirements and aspirations of patients.
National health services has faced many problems to reconcile the expensive cost of knowledge
and technology. In the year 2012, the healthcare budget was around £800 million which was made
significant cuts to it by Coalition government. Therefore, the ideas for charging patients for self- inflicted
is seems to be correct and worth exploring (England, 2014). It is national service which is funded by
national taxation. Most of the decisions regarding the treatment and patients services is taken by itself or
its local clinicians and also government sets some framework and it is accountable to parliament for its
well-functioning. The decisions taken by them must be clear and transparent to the people, staff and its
patients.
In England, NHS is putting profit for public sector after making profits from its private patients.
The income of NHS from private patients jumped from £408m in 2010 to £526m in 2016. Its overall profit
increased by 30 %. It has been created to help people not to make profits but to provide the best treatment
which is free of charge. But charging people for health services make the point redundant (Francis, 2013).
NHS is charging its patients for providing the best treatment to them. But sometimes it is very
difficult for poor people to afford high and expensive treatments. . Due to high costs, poor people cannot
afford expensive treatments and avoid the small symptoms which are initials of big diseases and
vulnerable to that diseases which sometimes leads to serious problems and death. It has to provide special
relaxation to the needy and poor people so that everyone can afford treatment from the best doctors and

experts (Jones and Loader, 2016). Also, the price of different tests and operation must be decided in
feasible range so that everyone can afford it.
In order to increase the revenue for the health care sector, the tax loopholes must be closed and
should focus on increasing education regarding healthy lifestyles. This should be encouraged to make
profits which will help NHS to provide best quality of services to their patients. Another way to increase
healthy life standard of the people is to reduce the burden of lifestyle diseases by increasing taxation for
the inactive and providing hefty tax rebates for human beings which are concerned for themselves (Mid
Staffordshire, 2016). It will increase the overall budget to plug 30 billion NHS. On the other hand, the
main cause of self-inflicted illness are socio economic factors which are contributing to addiction and
lifestyles.
One of the factors for which NHS has to take fees from its patients is squeeze on finance. The
experts and general practitioners which came from foreign countries takes high expenses to provide their
services to the people of UK. Hospitals have to pay more for their accommodation and services which
leads to economic crises for NHS. Furthermore, NHS has to maintain the expenditure of all its employees
including their wages, trainings and other technical equipment, resources to fulfil the demand of the
patients as well as their staff members (Vernazza, and et.al. 2015). The main aim of NHS is to provide the
best quality services to their patients at free of cost. In order to meet all these requirements, it has to
charge some amount from their patients so that they can be able to provide the best facilities to their
patients and other members. Every branch of the hospital in UK has to provide better quality of treatment
so that patients will remain fit and healthy and get rid of their serious diseases.
National health services expenditure has increased in each year. One of the major factors of this is
due to increase in alcohol and smoking based diseases which not only influences drinkers, smokers but
they impact others as well. All the expenses for these diseases has increased the burden on NHS budget.
For these reasons, NHS has to charge fair price for all its treatment so that people can become aware of
serious diseases and their outcomes and take healthy measures to prevent from these dangerous results (Is
charging a solution for the NHS?, 2017). This will help national health services to achieve its long term
profits and objective of keeping people healthy.
CONCLUSION
Summarizing above study, it can be concluded that National health services has to charge fair
charges from the patients so that it does not have to face the problem of economic crisis. NHS has to take
minimum prices which are feasible for poor people for giving the best treatment.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Choices, N. H. S., 2013. The NHS in England. NHS choices website. Available at: www. nhs.
uk/NHSEngland/thenhs/about/Pages/overview. aspx (accessed on 20 May 2013).
England, N. H. S., 2013. The NHS belongs to the people: a call to action. London: NHS England.
England, N. H. S., 2014. High quality care for all, now and for future generations.
Francis, R., 2013. Report of the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust public inquiry: executive
summary (Vol. 947). The Stationery Office.
Jones, D. and Loader, N., 2016. Should patients pay to see the GP?. BMJ: British Medical Journal
(Online). 352.
Mid Staffordshire, N. H. S., 2016. Foundation Trust Public Inquiry (2013) Report of the Mid Staffordshire
NHS Foundation Trust Public Inquiry: Executive Summary. The Stationery Office, London.
Vernazza, C. R., and et.al., 2015. Factors affecting direction and strength of patient preferences for
treatment of molar teeth with nonvital pulps. International endodontic journal. 48(12). pp.1137-
1146.
Online
Gallagher P., Mctague T., 2016. Campaigners say surge in income from private patients 'shows the worst
aspects of the ‘marketisation’ of the NHS' [Online]. Available
through:<http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/nhs-hospitals-
putting-profit-before-public-service-by-expanding-private-work-amid-falling-standards-
a6886796.html>. [Accessed on 24th June 2017].
Is charging a solution for the NHS? 2017. [Online]. Available
through:<http://www.bbc.com/news/health-38913394>. [Accessed on 24th June 2017].

PORTFOLIO EVIDENCE
Week 10: Getting a First!
Tick () the appropriate column to check that your essay has included the necessary parts to help
it get as high a grade as possible!
Good
evidence
Some
evidence
Insufficient
evidence
Knowledge and understanding
A. Have you worked through the tasks in
this portfolio? ✔️
B. Have you paraphrased/summarized ideas
effectively? ✔️
C. Do your portfolio tasks show
understanding of the essay writing
process?
✔️
D. Have you researched and supported your
ideas with evidence and examples? ✔️
Cognitive/Intellectual Skills
E. Does your essay include an introduction
and conclusion? ✔️
F. Do your body paragraphs contain a
counter-argument, argument &
evidence/ examples, using appropriate
linking words?
✔️
G. Have you used at least 4 sources (they
can be from class or reading list) &
combined your sources effectively?
✔️
H. Have you made your opinion clear? ✔️
Graduate: Transferable Employability & Practical Skills
I. Are you within the word count? ✔️
J. Have you checked for spelling, grammar
and punctuation mistakes? ✔️
K. Have you used appropriate academic
style and appropriate vocabulary? ✔️
L. Have you included in-text citations and a
reference list that follow Harvard Style? ✔️
M. Do you show good awareness of your
strengths and weaknesses (skills audit
and PDP target)?
✔️