Download Study the Background Information and the sources

Study the Background Information and the sources carefully, and then
answer all the questions.
Has the British government managed to improve its National Health Service
(NHS)?
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Read this carefully. It may help you to answer some of the questions.
In the 1940s the British government created a welfare system for the British. In this
welfare state, the British government would look after its citizens from ‘cradle to grave’.
The National Health Service (NHS) was set up in 1948 as part of the welfare system to
give its citizens free healthcare when they needed it. This meant that the NHS would
ensure that the people need not have to pay for medical treatments that they receive,
such as medical services, dental and optical treatments, when they are attended to by
doctors at clinics or hospitals. The British government initially expected the demand for
healthcare to increase and then after a while it would stabilise. By 1951, the NHS was
unable to meet the expectations of a healthcare system that was ‘free at the point of
service’. From 1951, the NHS had to charge a small fee for medicine given to patients as
well as for dental treatment.
Source A: Source taken from The Express, showing a cartoonist impression of the NHS
in
Britain in 1989
"I keep hallucinating, doctor ... Look! There it
goes again ... a nurse!"
1
Source B: An extract from a November 2008, Healthcare for London News article, on
Local Hospitals in London playing a vital role in the future of NHS services
Local hospitals will be providing Londoners with the right treatment, at the right place, at
the right time. A local hospital, serving a population of around 250,000 would include a
24-hour accident and emergency (A&E) department, paediatric assessment unit,
maternity unit, and provide inpatient emergency care alongside critical care services. In
addition there may be a 24/7 polyclinic at its front door, treating non-urgent cases and
providing direct access to investigative tests and outpatients.
Source C: An extract from Office of Health Economics 2009 on the serious problems
faced by the NHS in Britain
Insufficient resources have been devoted to health care. The system is not sensitive to
consumer preferences. Doctors make decisions about patients' treatment with little
reference to either the patients or the managerial structure of the NHS. The NHS is not
as efficient as it could be. Some hospitals need to be closed and the resources
transferred into community health care. But opponents, including some doctors, have
successfully delayed, and in some cases prevented, such changes from occurring.
Source D: An extract of an article taken from The Sun on foreign nurses view of the NHS
in Britain
Third World countries’ nurses say standards in British hospitals are worse than those in
their own countries. Lack of cleanliness, a failure of basic nursing care and no ‘joy’ in the
job were among complaints made by nurses from Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe.
Many said British nurses had poorer working conditions and longer hours than those in
their home countries. They said nurses here “focus on the paperwork rather than the
delivery of care”.
Source E: An extract of an article, taken from the BBC News, on the NHS chief official
praising improvements in NHS
The NHS is improving, with waiting lists and death rates from major diseases both
falling, the service's head says. Sir Nigel's report praised the reduction in waiting lists,
which now stands at 792,000 - 500,000 below its peak. Investment in doctors, nurses
and infrastructure was helping to tackle disease. Premature deaths from heart disease,
stroke and other related disease have fallen by a third since 1997. The cancer mortality
rate for under 75s has fallen by 14% over the same period.
2