Nurses for Reform Blog

The Stockholm Network is one of Europe’s leading market oriented think tanks and in the first edition of their new Health and Welfare Newsletter NFR has a leading article discussing the role of the State in healthcare.

Judge this for yourself.

Today’s report  from the Healthcare Commission says that healthcare provision in the UK is improving (they seem to think that a 4 hour wait for treatment in Accident and Emergency is acceptable!).

However, it emerged yesterday that the Nurse of the Year is quitting the NHS because she does not feel that she is able to give her patients the care that they need .

I am sure that she will be the first of many…

I have been away on holiday which is why I have been late in highlighting this article.

It features a report from the Health Consumer PowerHouse, an excellent group run by Johan Hjertqvist.

Johan and his team do a fantasitc job in comparing European health systems.  They are the leading organisation providing consumer information on health care, aiming to turn european patients in to powerful consumers of healthcare services.

As you can see from the article, the NHS was placed 17th out of 29 countries, lagging behind not only it’s northern european neighbours but also some former soviet block countries.  Not bad I supposed if you remember that William Beveridge, the architect of the NHS,  claimed that he would take us “…half way to Moscow…” !