NHS needs surgery?

UK official statistics show that the productivity of publicly funded healthcare fell by an average 0.3 per cent every year from 1995 to 2008.

Figures just published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveal that productivity within the National Health Service fell by a total of 3.3 per cent during the period.

In the report, the ONS said that between 1995 and 2008 inputs — the amount spent on healthcare — rose by 75 per cent, or an average 4.4 per cent a year. Yet outputs — the amount of healthcare provided and its quality — rose by only 69 per cent, or 4.1 per cent a year.