Donald Trump’s criticisms of the NHS suggest he doesn’t know much about our system – or the one he presides over
Once again, the president of the United States has elevated a segment on an early morning cable news show into an international diplomatic incident. This time, the subject of the row is the state of the UK’s health service, with a Fox & Friends segment – featuring everyone’s favourite seven-time failed parliamentary candidate, Nigel Farage, as its guest – suggesting the system was on the brink of collapse. Farage said that immigration is the cause.
In a tweet which followed shortly after the news segment, Donald Trump wrote: “The Democrats are pushing for Universal Healthcare while thousands of people are marching in the UK because their U system is going broke and not working. Dems want to greatly raise taxes for really bad and non-personal medical care. No thanks!”
If Trump is going to ignore the huge governmental information apparatus at his command in favour of a news show, it’s a pity he’s picked one that gets so little right – especially as it’s not hard to set out what’s really going on with the UK health system, and how it compares with America’s.
The first thing that Americans should know about the National Health Service is that it’s free at the point of use to anyone who needs it. You don’t have to fill out much paperwork, and you get no bills, whether you go to see your family doctor, or go to hospital. No one in the UK goes bankrupt through medical costs, no one needs to delay medical treatment until they can afford it, and virtually no one is uninsured.
The healthcare it provides is … OK. This is a controversial assessment in the UK, as the NHS often ranks as the most popular institution in the UK, more popular than the military and even the royal family, with nurses and doctors being the two most trusted professions in the country.
Despite its popularity, though, the NHS performs roughly mid-table in terms of bang for its buck: some countries spending roughly the same on health get considerably better outcomes, others get much worse. One country the UK outstrips by a huge amount, though, is the US.
According to data gathered by the OECD, the average UK spend per head on healthcare is $4,192 (£2,989) – and it has a life expectancy of 81.6 years. The US spends more than twice this amount, $9,892 – far more than any other country in the world – and yet life expectancy is far lower.
