Jamie Rush, Columnist

Why Britain's Health Service Needs Urgent Care

Britain needs to either spend more on health care or cut services.

January 16, 2017 at 3:08 PM UTC

Jamie Rush is Director of Global Economics at Bloomberg in London. He is co-author of "The Price of Money" a guide to the past, present and future of the natural rate of interest and a Visiting Professor at the University of Sheffield. Jamie was previously Chief European Economist (2015-2025) at Bloomberg and has worked at the British Treasury, the New Zealand Treasury and the UK Office for Budget Responsibility.

Too little, too late?
Photographer: Oli Scarff/Getty Images

Provide news feedback or report an error

Site feedback:

Take our Survey

This article is for subscribers only.

Britain’s National Health Service needs urgent treatment. Cuts to the social services budget mean hospital wards are clogged with people who could probably be cared for at lower cost elsewhere, especially the elderly in need of social care rather than medical treatment. Staff are stretched to the limits. The situation is already critical and the government’s published plans are for real health spending per person over the next three years to be cut.

Britain’s government needs either to fund the NHS properly or cut service provision. Muddling through will end in disaster.