From the text, what parts are positive statements and which are normative? Explain your answer. From the text, the positive statements are the statements that can be prove right or wrong, through the use of economic data. An example of this in the text would be that “NHS spending in the UK exceeds £110 billion”. This shows the use of positive statements as it makes a point that can be proved right, or wrong essentially, through the use of economic data. By looking at the financial spending, it can be proved whether or not the NHS in the UK has actually exceeded this mark. From the text, the normative statements are the statements that express judgement or an opinion, of which can be debated but not proved right or wrong. An example of this in the text would be that “The problem with such schemes is that it would increase business costs – possibly reducing employment”. This shows the use of normative …show more content…
The basic economic problem is that there are limited factors of production but unlimited wants and needs. The text relates to this as the NHS struggles to keep up with the demands of the population, while on a limited budget. With constant admittances, new staff having to be trained, new technologies to be bought, limited resources, treatments and many more expenses, choices have to be made as to how to use their money. The basic economic problem is all about scarcity and choice. While spending in the UK exceeds £110 billion, requirements are not being met for the NHS, and this poses problems. The NHS must try to allocate scarce resources in order to meet the unlimited wants and needs. But this means that choices must be made. And with the correct reasoning, a choice that will provide the lowest opportunity cost. If they decide to devote more resources into one area of investment e.g. recruitment and training of new staff, then another area of investment e.g. new equipment, will have less
This simple image depicts the direction not only the NHS is heading, but the entire world. This direction is toward a more technologically advanced future, with increased efficiency and reliability throughout. The NHS is one of the largest organisations in the UK and boasts the highest employment rate of people within the IT sector. This leads to the question of what these IT personnel are doing and what technology they are bringing to the NHS to improve productivity. It is evident through campaigns such as the one in the previous image that the NHS is attempting to modernise alongside technology but what technology is truly used isn’t largely public knowledge, this is where this report attempts to bridge the gap, allowing the public greater knowledge to the inner workings of the NHS. This report also allows for the NHS to understand what technologies are working well within the organisation alongside those which aren’t working so well, so they are able to work with this for future improvements.
Changing factors such as aging populations and new technologies becoming available are increasing expectations from people throughout the world, and decision makers must make rational choices to maximise benefits to population health whilst working with limited resources. Yothasamut et al (2009) summarise this by observing that "health care resources in every setting are always constrained, while unlimited demand is observed". The 'best' choices in the context of economics are the ones which maximise utility (individual satisfaction through consumption of goods) and welfare, the sum utility experienced by all individuals in society. Decision makers often have to seek satisfactory rather than optimal solutions, also known as working with 'bounded rationality' (Simon 1957 in Williams et al 2008), as it is important to pursue both efficiency and equity in the funding of health care. Therefore, it may be unsuitable to fund the most cost effective option if it sacrifices the equal distribution of benefits. Research in health economics can take a normative or positive approach and this reflects the balance needed between cost control and equity when making economic decisions. Positive economic research and analysis is concerned with 'how things are' and seeks to explain economic phenomena, whilst normative economic research and analysis is concerned with 'how things ought to be' and relies on value
Economics affected the healthcare industry both national and international due to the cost of healthcare not being simplistic due to the difficulty that it entails to itemize the services that is provided (Scott, Solomon, and McGowan, 2011). In addition Scott et al (2011), reported that the effective use of resources are the determinant factor for the allocation of funds, whether it is diverted towards infection control or antibiotics effectiveness. Economics is determined by Scott et al (2011) as behavioral science which is divided into two humanistic behavior, the first purposeful and goal oriented and the second is human desires and demands. The problem arise when the demand is greater than the resources allocated, which at times are beyond
Competition can also put patients at the heart of the NHS. Numerous polls show patients value their right to choose which hospital to go to and what treatment they receive. Yet without competition patients would have to "like it or deal with it" and the choice of alternative healthcare will remain the privilege of the rich who can afford to buy their way out of the system.
The change in public expectations- The main job for the NHS when it was originally set up was to tackle diseases but now so much more is expected, from advice, contraception, antenatal and maternity services to name a few. All of this is part of a growing population due to higher birth rates, lower infant mortality and living longer and putting strain on the NHS.
The NHS was first launched in 1948. It was created to provide good healthcare services and it was available to everyone. It didn’t matter if you were rich or poor, that was the principle. http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/thenhs/about/Pages/overview.aspx With the NHS confronting its greatest difficulties throughout the following decade, there are numerous reasons that the NHS is coming to emergency point. Each test should be tended to and a successful method for adapting and giving better treatment to patients should be involved.
In a society that’s economic system is based and rooted in competition (capitalism), you find benign industries such as the healthcare profession, who are responsible for providing services that can determine life or death, who’s professionals are trusted to be altruistic in their positions, are now in competition for market share and power over the healthcare industry. There has been concern around the influx of money into the healthcare field and how or if this will affect physician’s ability take care of their patients. The competition between stakeholders in the healthcare market has been on the rise; different groups are vying for market share and power. As we shall see, there is a sense of tension underlying actions in the healthcare industry today.
Finally, research account about $45,544. This explain how the money is being spent in healthcare services (Alonso-Zaldivar, 2016). One might think that the spending on healthcare should provide better care for people of the United States, but evidence suggest that the US has poor population health. Also, we have the lowest life expectancy at birth than other countries, and the US residents that are over 65 years of age are more likely to have two are more chronic diseases compared to other countries (). I am saying all of this to say that we are spending too much on healthcare.
During a time of austerity institutions such as the NHS are extremely hard pressed to provide an adequate service to the population. The NHS in England currently has to make £20bn of efficiency savings (between 2011 and 2015). These savings of 4% a year are needed if the NHS is to meet rising demands and maintain quality, with funding effectively frozen in real terms during the current spending review period. The last thing it needs is for a social issue to increase the number of patients that it has.
Healthcare professional education and labour economics are in essence a matter of supply and demand. However at times there is oversupply and at times undersupply. Let’s look at oversupply first. Oversupply of healthcare professionals in a certain specialities is a waste. The expense of education that has been provided has gone to waste and now the healthcare professional is a burden on the taxpayer. So it is a double hit for the healthcare service. However there may be a case for having a small oversupply. The future of the health service is unpredictable and so it is probably wiser to have a small oversupply than an undersupply which will mean that patients cannot receive the care that they need. A small oversupply will also mean that there is some competition for training places and specialist posts – this should be a driver for learners to achieve more and thus to improve quality. Moving on to undersupply, there are few arguments for having an undersupply of healthcare professionals. There will be savings in the education budgets but these savings will be far outweighed by the costs of untreated acute illness and chronic disease.
In resource limited settings there prevails unending situations of resource scarcity. This poses difficulties to governments especially when it comes to considering national priorities in the process of resource allocation. Taking it down to the health sector, there intra-sector challenges faced when it comes to which sub-sector is prioritised for funding. However, effective and intentional resource allocation is a backbone to functional and impactful national health policies and hence health system performance. Yet, in the context of making decisions between competing claims on scarce health service resources, economic tools and thinking have much to offer [1].
healthcare will never and yet the resources are finite- scarcity. Thus, a shortage for healthcare
health care system is defined as a group of people joining together to deliver health care services to a population. There are various types of health systems with different organizational structures. England is one of the top ranked countries providing best healthcare. Its health systems has developed according to its population needs and resources. This paper will give a brief summary outlining current health care issues in England and illustrate an understanding of the political, economic, and cultural factors of its health care system based on current facts like the history and current health care statistics.
Undoubtedly, healthcare services can maintain or improve both physical and mental health of individuals and it is crucial for all the citizens. Therefore, a majority want to receive free and approachable healthcare service irrespective of their social background, age or health status by the government. However, a well-organized and effective free healthcare system is complicated to provide to the public and the government will face enormous challenges and dilemmas when they authorize the citizens to access essential healthcare without any charge. This essay discusses two different healthcare systems in the United Kingdom and the United States and analyses the effectiveness and efficiency of both free public and private healthcare. It will be argued that the healthcare system will be more effective if the health care is partially provided by the government free of charge and partly provided by the private companies.
The NHS was funded by national health. The fund of the NHS is main from general taxation and insurance payment. In recently, the population sharply increasing in UK, which led to the organization have not enough money to offer some services for everyone. And Within this total,‘health tourism’, where people come to the United Kingdom with the express intent of using health services to which they were not entitled, was estimated to cost between £60 million and £80 million per year. This compares to the annual NHS budget of £113