Policy Hub
Political devolution means there are now four National Health Services in the United Kingdom, all funded by the UK taxpayer but with different systems of governance and different methods of providing healthcare.
A report published by the Nuffield Trust on 20 January 2010 examines the impact of this by studying key performance indicators for the NHS in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland at three time points – 1996/7, 2002/3 and 2006/7. The report also undertakes a completely new comparison of NHS performance in the English regions.
Key statistics for the NHS in the four countries are examined before and after devolution. Performance was tracked against a number of key indicators including expenditure, staffing levels, activity (outpatient appointments, inpatient admissions and day cases), staff productivity and waiting times. Broadly, the report finds striking differences in performance with some UK countries spending more on health care and employing greater numbers of health staff but performing worse across a range of specific measures.