The pros and cons of privatising the NHS

Questions have been raised about sustainability of Britain's health service

Jeremy Hunt
Jeremy Hunt has been dubbed the ‘great survivor’ of the Tory government
(Image credit: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)

How does the UK compare worldwide?

Britain's healthcare system often comes under fire, but last year it was named the best in the world. In a study of 11 high-income nations carried out by the Commonwealth Fund, a private American foundation, the NHS was deemed the second cheapest and the best performing overall. It ranked first for access, safety, coordinated care, patient-centred care and efficiency – although it came in third for timeliness of care, beaten by Switzerland and the Netherlands. It also ranked among the lowest for "healthy lives", which took into account life expectancy, infant mortality and deaths that might have been prevented by medical care.

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