Evaluating Healthcare: A Detailed Comparison of the UK and USA Systems

This report provides an overview of the United Kingdom's healthcare system, primarily focusing on the National Health Service (NHS) and its historical development, current structure, regulations, and policies. It highlights the NHS's universal healthcare approach, funded through general taxes, and its commitment to providing comprehensive care to all citizens. The report also addresses the disadvantages of the UK system, such as potential overuse of services and long waiting times. Furthermore, it contrasts the UK's healthcare model with that of the United States, noting the US's higher healthcare expenditure, lack of universal health insurance, and mixed performance in healthcare outcomes. While the US demonstrates strengths in certain areas like cancer survival rates and diabetes treatment, the UK excels in providing equitable access to healthcare for its population. The report concludes that the UK healthcare system is effective in providing quality, accessible, and efficient healthcare services, while also acknowledging the ongoing challenges and areas for improvement in both the UK and US systems. Desklib offers similar solved assignments and past papers for students.

Healthcare Provision
By:

Introduction
• United Kingdom provides healthcare to all citizens about 58 million
individuals.
• Healthcare coverage is paid by general taxes.
• About 18% of a citizen’s income tax goes towards healthcare that is
about 4.5% of the average resident’s income.

History of United Kingdom
Healthcare System
• In 1946, the National Health Service which is responsible for the public healthcare
sector for the United Kingdom
• National Insurance Act was introduced later on where a little amount of money was
taken from an employees salary and in return they were offered free health care
services. However, it was only available for those who were employed.
• A tripartite system was designed which split the service into health center services,
primary care and the society service.
• National health Service and Community Act was passed that organized independent
Trust which focused on hospital care.
• Presentadjustments in the NHS encompasses the disbanding of the present
government management structure by 2014. Total disbursement as a GDP
percentage has in general increased (Johnson 2011, pp.735-745) .

History continuation
• The United Kingdom government administered on of the most essential
adjustments for the NHS in the current times by making the internal market.
• Practitioners must now be able to be part of the internal market to be able
to scramble for the sufferers.
• All healthcare in the United Kingdom was provided by the trusts. United
Kingdom later instituted the NHS plan which assisted in modernizing the
NHS. The NHS was working using a 1940s system which did not have
national standards.
• It did not have incentives and ways to enhance achievements and the power
taken from the sufferer (Connolly, Bevan and Mays 2010). .

Current healthcare Systems in
United Kingdom
• National Health Service is universal healthcare system sponsored by the government
of United Kingdom.
• . It encompasses the National Health Services Wales, England, Scotland and
Northern Ireland.
• The residents are authorized to health maintenance under this system but they also
opt of buying private health insurance.
• The National Health Service plan assures more data and power for sufferers, more
health facilities, and beds, more health experts, enhanced healthcare for older
victims, shorter waiting appointments and resilient standards for NHS organizations.
• Furthermore, The United Kingdom healthcare system is one of the most coherent
globally (Guest et al. 2015, p.e009283).

Regulations and policies
• There are numerous regulatory authorities that assesses and evaluate the nature of the health
services given by government and independent givers.
• This includes regular, timely evaluation of all givers, inspection of all personal problems that have
captured the attention of the regulatory body and tactful deliberation in order to suggest the best
ways of practice.
• There are three that were dealing with healthcare insurance regulation in England were integrated
into Care Quality Commission in 2008.
• Nature of care is also assessed by the Department of Health or its regional organization that
comprises of ten Strategic Health Authority.
• The United Kingdom framework gives incentives for enhancing quality: practices are given points by
how they are arranged, how sufferers see their surgical experiences, whether more health services
are offered and how well usual incurable illnesses like asthma and diabetes are handled (Dietz et al.
2015, pp.2521-2533s).

Disadvantages of the current
system
• As much as United Kingdom is considered as one of the most quality
health care providers, there are challenges that affect the nation in
terms of participation.
• Due to their active responsibility in health maintenance, the purpose
of the market mechanism is weakened.
• Furthermore, lack of medical equipment like experts in public
sanatoriums and equipment are caused by tight control.
• . Due to free medical healthcare services given to all citizens, there
might be excess and extensive use of the medical assistance. Therefore
it is usual to find long queues in public health facilities (Proksch, 2018).

United Kingdom Healthcare and United States of
America
• Research has indicated that seven industrialized nations were compared and United Kingdom was ranked
2nd while the United States of America generally underscored in most healthcare areas than other nations.
• The United States healthcare system is one of the utmost expensive worldwide.
• Out of all the countries examined, it was the only nation that did not have a health insurance system.
• The United States of America in regards to access, safety of the patient, coordination, coherency, and
equity. It is also known as the nation that has a high expenditure globally in healthcare. United States of
America spends 15% of the GDP yearly which is about $2.2 trillion dollars.
• The United Kingdom only spend 8% of its GDP on healthcare. The United Kingdom National health Service
cares for 58 million individuals while the United States public healthcare presently covers around 83
million people
• The UK has made public health maintenance available to all UK permanent citizens by ensuring that it is
free when it is needed. Additionally, United States of America has set age and income needs on public
health coverage. In regards to private healthcare sector, the US holds some merits over United Kingdom
(Proksch, 2018).

Continuation……
• For example, the US rates are higher than the UK when it comes to males and
females who are cancer survivors after diagnosis for five years. The US is also high of
sufferers with diabetes who got treatment within half a year.
• The US victims who have received timely treatment for diabetes was more than six
times that of United Kingdom and twice that of Canada.
• The percentage of old people with low income who say they are in perfect health in
United States of America was far and away bigger than any other country.
• United States of America has community based health centers that give high quality
and cost-effective primary and preventive healthcare to the victims who are under
served and those individuals that have not been insured (Dietz et al. 2015, pp.2521-
2533s).

Conclusion
• United Kingdom healthcare system is considered to be one of the
most effective systems in the world. It provides quality healthcare
services, healthcare access, equity and efficiency.
• In addition United States of America has high expenditure globally in
healthcare and it has set age limits on the public health coverage.
• In regards to private healthcare sector, The US holds some merits over
United Kingdom

References
• Johnson, C.W., 2011. Identifying common problems in the acquisition and deployment of large-scale,
safety–critical, software projects in the US and UK healthcare systems.
Safety Science,
49(5), pp.735-745
• Connolly, S., Bevan, G. and Mays, N., 2010. Funding and performance of healthcare systems in the four
countries of the UK before and after devolution: a longitudinal analysis of the four countries, 1996/97,
2002/03 and 2006/07, supplemented by cross-sectional regional analysis of England, 2006/07.
• Guest, J.F., Ayoub, N., McIlwraith, T., Uchegbu, I., Gerrish, A., Weidlich, D., Vowden, K. and Vowden, P.,
2015. Health economic burden that wounds impose on the National Health Service in the UK.
BMJ
open,
5(12), p.e009283
• Dietz, W.H., Baur, L.A., Hall, K., Puhl, R.M., Taveras, E.M., Uauy, R. and Kopelman, P., 2015. Management
of obesity: improvement of health-care training and systems for prevention and care.
The
Lancet,
385(9986), pp.2521-2533
• Proksch, D., Busch-Casler, J., Haberstroh, M.M. and Pinkwart, A., 2018. National health innovation
systems: Clustering the OECD countries by innovative output in healthcare using a multi indicator
approach.
Research Policy.