Bureaucracy has existed ever since the establishment of the NHS, 5th July 1948. There have been many attempts to reform the NHS, yet the issue of bureaucracy still exists. The NHS aims to provide free healthcare to all to the point of free delivery. It also aims to care for patients and keep improving their services so that the NHS can remain efficient. However, we see in our day to day lives that this is not the case. In this essay, I will illustrate Friedrich von Hayek’s () ideas of free markets and apply it to the issue of bureaucracy in the NHS.
One of Hayek’s main thesis was that socialism would eventually lead to totalitarianism, () thus leading to control over all aspects of the economy. The NHS has been buried under bureaucracy,
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It had been believed by the conservative government that the introduction of CCGs would lead to increased competition and more choice. However there has been less insistence on competition and more emphasis on strengthening regulations and providing better patient safety.() Hayek would claim that placing more emphasis on regulations leads to an administrative system where all decisions are made and governed by officials. By privatising the NHS, free markets will be available, increasing competition and allowing better health care to be available. More private health cares would lead to more competition where doctors would compete for more patients by providing better health care which in turn then leads to oligopoly markets. The NHS is so complex that it cannot be understood by individuals who try to control markets and economies. Hayek believed that economies were too complex to be understood by individuals as only a small perspective is seen. This can be applied to the NHS, as the NHS is made up of many complex organisations that by intervening and trying to solve a problem, will only lead to more problems as only a small perspective is seen. It is therefore best to leave markets as they are and let the issues unfold
In 1928, a national health insurance scheme was proposed but not implemented because it would have required businesses to provide contributions to health insurance for their employees (Evolution of Government Involvement in Health Care, n.d). Another national health insurance scheme was proposed in 1938 but it was also rejected (Evolution of Government Involvement in Health Care, n.d; Hilless & Healy, 2001). The next proposal was the 1945 Pharmaceuticals Benefits Act. This Act was not implemented because the Australian Medical Association challenged it in the High Court of Australia and it was decided that parliament had “exceeded its constitutional power” (Hilless & Healy, 2001). In 1946, under the Hospital Benefits Act, the Commonwealth began to subsidise public hospitals under the condition that patients would not be charged (Evolution of Government Involvement in Health Care, n.d; Hilless & Healy, 2001). This act is similar to the current Medicare system.
Some of the key arguments that exist in today’s NHS are how it is organised and managed, and how it is to be funded. Should the government pay for it? Should the taxpayers pay for it? Or should it be privately run?
Dr Steve Kell said ‘there was no privatisation agenda and that competition should only be used if it was in the best interest of patients’. The NHS would be pointless if it was all about the competing to get patient’s and funds, as it was originally set up to give free and equal health care to everyone regardless of wealth or status. However if its turned into a competition between private care and the NHS , care will not be equal and the values of the NHS will no
After the serious shortcomings within the Mid-Staffordshire NHS Trust came to light, The Francis Report (Francis, 2013) investigated how the conditions of inexcusable care could prevail within the trust. The Francis Report proposed several extensive changes that could improve the National Health Service (NHS). Garner (2014) informs that these changes include that leaders need to be effective and accountable, staff should be empowered to work in partnership, each trust should aim to improve innovation and quality, whilst putting the patient first. The Department of Health (DH) reflected on the findings and in response to The Francis
Developments in new technologies, new treatments, and new drugs may improve the ability of the NHS as the supplier, but at the same time it encourages demand to level that requires significantly exceeds supply. This will create a long waiting list and will lead to a shortage of beds in the hospital. NHS privatization will cause prices to rise to reflect the true cost of supply. However, rising costs have forced a re-think on funding.
Starting with the organizational structure of the NHS, it is basically an umbrella organization that comprises of four regional branches, in particular, NHS (England), NHS Scotland, Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland and NHS Wales. The financing for all these institutions comes from a universal source, particularly the tax-payer money of residents of UK, although they operate to an extent as self-governing institutions. The treasury allocates money to the department of Health, which in turn allocates money to NHS England (Understanding the new NHS). In other words, the top executives of these four institutions take decisions independently for day to day operations although they abide by broader governing directives applicable to the UK region as a whole. Governance is an important aspect of the operating of the NHS, for without it exploitation by private vested interests is likely to happen. (National Health Service (NHS): A study of its Structure, Funding and Regulation, Strengths and Weaknesses, n.d.)
This essay will examine how the development of the Welfare State and the NHS changed the lives of the people of Britain since its introduction in 1948. To enable me to do so, I will analyse and evaluate the key relevant aspects that happened during that period.
Hello , im Jenna sunderland, I would love to be a part of the National Honor Society. Being considered as a candidate is a huge honor. Being conducted into NHS would be an atonishing achievement for me. This is my first year even being cinsidered in the three years ive been in Moore public Schools. Im filled with great excitement!
Reflect on your reading for the week, specifically Analytical Exercise 8. Is another form of structural configuration better suited to multiproduct, multiservice companies? If not, is there a form of departmentalization for multiproduct, multiservice companies which would match somewhat the divisional structure configuration?"
In 2000, an effort was made by the UK government to resolve certain inequalities that had developed within the NHS by releasing the “NHS Plan of 2000.” This plan greatly increased spending on employee pay, infrastructure, and access to services. Despite almost doubling spending in a ten year period,
The National health services (NHS) provides a comprehensive healthcare services across the entire nation. It is considered to be UK’s proudest institution, and is envied by many other countries because of its free of cost health delivery to its population. Nevertheless, it is often seen as a ‘political football’ as it affects all of us in some way and hence everyone carry an opinion about it (Cass, 2006). Factors such as government policies, funding, number of service users, taxation etc all make up small parts of this large complex organisation. Therefore, any imbalances within one sector can pose a substantial risk on the overall NHS (Wheeler & Grice, 2000). This essay will discuss whether the NHS aim of reducing the nations need
Americans depend on government bureaucracies to accomplish most of what we expect from government, and we are oftentimes critical of a bureaucracy’s handling of its responsibilities. Bureaucracy is essential for carrying out the tasks of government. As government bureaucracies grew in the twentieth century, new management techniques sought to promote greater efficiency. The reorganization of the government to create the Department of Homeland Security and the Bush administration’s simultaneous push to contract out jobs to private employers raises the question as to whether the government or the private sector can best manage our national security. Ironically, the criticism of the bureaucracy may be a product
To get my health care reform started, the basic format of Britain’s National Health Service will be followed. It will feature large tax-based financing to fund
The National Health System began in 1948 with the aim to provide free health care for the English thus removing health access inequities. This essay considers two strengths of the NHS, being free health and locally responsive health care and two weaknesses being the financial burden and unprecedented pressure on health care resources.
The right to health care is tantamount to socialism and therefore should be left as the responsibility of an individual and not a function of the government to secure a person’s health care. Thus government’s provision of healthcare could reduce the availability and quality of healthcare, resulting to enormous government deficits and debts. This paper is going to explore the reasons why the government should not provide free health care to its citizens.