The NHS: Services, Privatization, Positive & Negative Impacts Analysis

This essay provides an overview of the National Health Service (NHS) in England, detailing the publicly funded healthcare services it offers, including alternative medicine, ambulances, cancer screenings, contraception, community care, counseling, dental services, district nurses, prison health services, health visitors, hospitals, maternity services, older people's services, optical services, pharmacists, and school health programs. It also addresses the topic of privatization within the NHS, discussing both the potential positive impacts, such as increased competition and patient choice, and negative impacts, including the erosion of NHS principles and fragmented services. The essay references sources from NHS.UK, the Department of Health, and news articles to support its analysis of the NHS and the implications of its privatization.

Title: National Health
Service

NHS Services
The National Health Services is publicly funded national healthcare system for England, and it is one
of the Four National Health Services in the UK.
The services provided by NHS
Alternative Medicine: The NHS provides various types of complementary medicine from GPs and
hospitals. Therapies available therapies include acupuncture, chiropractic, osteopathy and homeopathy.
Ambulances: The patients of NHS are provided with ambulances for both emergency and routine
transport. The emergency telephone service is provided, and for routine journeys, the transport can be
arranged from GPs and hospitals.

Breast Cancer Screening: For woman ranged between 50-70 years, screening is provided at three yearly
intervals. For those above 70 years, screening is done request.
Cervical Screening: For women between 25 and 64 years, screening of cervical cancer is provided every
three to five years and on request for those above the age of 64 years.
Contraception: GPs and family planning clinics usually avail advice and supplies on contraceptives.
Some of the supplies include the morning-after pill. These are available from the GPs, family planning
clinics, and some of the NHS walk-in centers.
Community Care: The NHS can provide nursing care at home such as having a district nurse. IF
someone has been in the hospital, they are assessed to determine if they need community care. If an
individual is discharged from hospital but still need a high level of health care, the NHS funds such care.

Counseling Services: Some GPs provide free counseling services.
Dentists: It is possible to get a list of various dentists providing NHS treatment from any local Clinical
Commissioning Group (CCG). Patients do pay for dental treatment, but some groups may get free dental services.
District Nurses: These are nurses under the NHS employee and provide nursing care to clients living at home.
The services provided include the provision of dressings or injections. They are also located in GP surgeries and
health centers, and patients can also contact them through the community nursing offices.
Health Services in Prison: NHS provides health services to prisoners since they deserve access to various
quality health services as the general public.
Health Visitors: They are usually located at GP surgeries and provide help to families who have children under
the age of five and also to older patients.

Hospitals: Referrals by GPs help patients get NHS hospital and book appointments. A
patient can also go to the Accident and Emergency department and get treatment for
sexually transmitted diseases without a referral.
Maternity Services: For pregnant patients, the options available involve access to
midwives, a GP or an obstetrician based in a hospital.
Older People's Services: Older persons can get a variety of services from NHS. For
example, patients above the age of 75 years receive annual checkups from the GPs.
Optical Services: The NHS has optometrists who perform eye checkups by checking the
quality of sight and looks for signs of eye sickness and the appropriate care needed.

Pharmacists: They usually dispense medicines and can also avail free information and advice
about common medical problems.
School Health: The school nurse provides health checks to children, and these checks include
hearing, sight and growth tests. Health education and general advice in the management of health
problems in school are also provided.
The above discussion involves some of the services provided by NHS.

Business Topic: The privatization of the NHS’s in-house agency staff provider by the government
Positive impacts
Protecting Free Services: Privatizing will increase competition hence the clinical groups will find
better opportunities which will safeguard the key principle of free services.
Quality not dependent on profit: The King’s Fund made an analysis that for-profit, non-profit
and NHS providers can all provide high quality care. So despite NHS being privatized, it can still
provide high quality services.
NHS needs help: Partial privatization can be considered an alternative to improve the NHS.
Better patient choice: The competition puts the patients in consideration and therefore there is
more choice.

Negative Impacts
Eroding NHS Principles: It is feared that privatization may erode the key foundation which
led to the establishment of NHS in 1948
Fragmented services: The privatization may lead to fragmentation of health services to the
disadvantage of patients.
Less Transparency: Privatization will lead to less accountability.

REFERENCES
• NHS.UK. (2013). NHS Services, Seven Days a Week Forum. Retrieved on November 27, 2016 from
https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/forum-summary-report.pdf
• Department of Health. (2013). The health and care system explained. Retrieved on November 27, 2016 from
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-health-and-care-system-explained/the-health-and-care-syste
m-explained
• Stone, J. (2016). Government quietly privatizes the NHS's in-house agency staff provider. Retrieved on November 27,
2016 from
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/nhs-privatisation-charges-professionals-in-house-agency-a7426966
.html