OECD report criticises UK health spending

A new report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has criticised the UK’s health spending, saying that too much money goes on staff wages and too little on modern equipment which could save lives.

The report says that Britain has one of the highest rates of avoidable deaths amongst OECD countries and that these figures cut three and a half years off the average life. This figure comes despite other statistics which show that GP pay in the UK is far more than in most other countries. The OECD says that the health service in the UK will only improve in terms of efficiency if radical change occurs with more money spent on new equipment and less on doctors pay.

The study, which looks at 30 of the most industrialised countries, says that the inequality which currently exists in the health service has led to the NHS being the seventh most inefficient health system in the OECD, with our chances of getting to see a doctor smaller than almost anywhere else. The OECD added that despite paying doctors less, there should be more employed as Britain only has 25 doctors per 10,000 inhabitants.

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