British health care system ailing, survey finds
CMAJ 2000;162:1721
The public health care system is not doing well and new treatments may be needed to revive it, according to more than 600 residents interviewed in a recent Gallup poll. However, the system in question is not Canada's, but the UK's National Health Service (NHS).
Eighty-five percent of respondents interviewed in the poll, conducted for the Daily Telegraph, said Britain's health care system was "in somewhat failing health" or doing "very poorly indeed." Only 2% said it was in "peak condition."
About 1 in 8 respondents felt that the British system can carry on nicely as it currently exists, but 85% felt that the system is unlikely to survive without a large infusion of cash. There was less agreement about where that money should come from. Surprisingly, a significant majority (67%) said they would be prepared to pay a hefty tax increase — $375 a year — if they could be assured the money was going solely to the NHS.
When asked if money from the national lottery should go to health care, respondents were more divided, although 62% said some or all of the money should go to the NHS.
There was a noticeable split over the question of collaboration with the private sector. Although 58% of respondents thought there should be "a fair amount" or "a great deal" of collaboration between the public and private sectors, 36% did not look upon such a relationship favourably.
When asked where the money should come from to fund the NHS, 83% of respondents said the funds should come "almost entirely" from tax revenue. Sound familiar? — Donalee Moulton, Halifax
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