Whether the NHS is better or worse than other countries’ health care may be difficult to decide due to different definitions of efficiency, but The King’s Fund have compared some statistics and general opinions.
According to the King’s Fund article, NHS services are mostly around average or better than average compared to the EU, in areas such as waiting times for treatment and shorter hospital stays. But there are some areas, such as number of practising doctors per population and number of NHS CT and MRI scanners, that are lower than average.
They also mention areas where improvements can be made, such as ‘mortality rates from causes that should not be fatal if effective health care is in place’ where the UK is similar to Portugal and Malta but ‘lower than comparable countries like Germany, The Netherlands, Spain and Sweden’.
Despite this, they say that a large success of the NHS is that a difference in income in the UK does not affect the access to care, the UK is still a leader in quality care, and most British people say they are satisfied with their care and the NHS. Read the King’s Fund article for more information.