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The '''National Health Service (NHS)''' is the [[United Kingdom]]'s nationalised nationalized [[health]] care system. It was established in 1948 as part of [[Clement Attlee]]'s post-[[World War II]] [[Labour Party|Labour]] government's socialist program, and has been supported (at least publicly) by politicians of every party since then. The wealthy in [[Britain]] typically use private health insurance, for which there are tax breaks,<ref>http://www.aviva.co.uk/healthcarezone/document-library/files/ge/gen2326.pdf</ref> while the general public and some politicians use the NHS system.<ref>https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2161011/Samantha-Cameron-shares-difficulties-looking-late-disabled-son-Ivan.html</ref>

The NHS is nominally funded out of "National Insurance contributions"As pharmaceutical companies began rationing drugs since 2008, a form of personal [[taxation]] comparable to the US [[Social Security]] British healthcare system. The NHS revenue stream is, in theory, entirely separate faces drug stortages in operation from income tax2012.<ref>http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1394285&</ref> In practiceOfficials within their health care system warned about a severe shortage of pharmaceuticals, the NHS is funded from general taxation, and is accepted by the British electorate as being funded in this wayputting patients' lives at risk. All prescription medicines (however not over-the-counter ones) are available for a low standard fee in [[England]]. Prescriptions are entirely free of charge in [[Wales]]<ref>httphttps://www.dhtelegraph.govco.uk/enhealth/Healthcarehealthnews/Medicinespharmacyandindustry9350508/Prescriptions/NHScosts/DH_508</ref>. NHS treatment is available to all residents Lives-put-at-risk-by-shortage-of the UK. Most services, including complex and expensive surgical procedures and -drugs, are free at the point of use, and those that are not (such as the provision of glasses and dental care) are free to people on low incomes. This ensures that everyone is able to be treated, no matter what their individual wealth or means may be-NHS-leaders-warn.<ref>http://www.nhs.uk/England/AboutTheNhs/Default.cmsxhtml</ref> "Private" (i.e. non-NHS) doctors and hospitals do exist in Britain, but fewer than 10% of Britons choose to buy private health insurance in preference to using the NHS. (The big exception to this is in the area of dental care: NHS dentists are relatively difficult to find in many areas, and many people are forced to "go private", even if uninsured.)

The NHS is nominally funded out of "National Insurance contributions", a form of personal [[taxation]] comparable to the US [[Social Security]] system, albeit capped below average earnings. The NHS revenue stream is, in theory, entirely separate in operation from income tax.<ref>http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1394285&</ref> In practice, the NHS is funded from general taxation, and is accepted by the British electorate as being funded in this way. All prescription medicines (however not over-the-counter ones) are available for a low standard fee in [[England]]. Prescriptions are entirely free of charge in [[Wales]].<ref>http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Healthcare/Medicinespharmacyandindustry/Prescriptions/NHScosts/DH_508</ref> NHS treatment is available to all residents of the UK. Most services, including complex and expensive surgical procedures and drugs, are free at the point of use, and those that are not (such as the provision of glasses and dental care) are free to people on low incomes. This ensures that everyone is able to be treated, no matter what their individual wealth or means may be.<ref>http://www.nhs.uk/England/AboutTheNhs/Default.cmsx</ref> "Private" (i.e. non-NHS) doctors and hospitals do exist in Britain, but fewer than 10% of Britons choose to buy private health insurance in preference to using the NHS. (The big exception to this is in the area of dental care: NHS dentists are relatively difficult to find in many areas, and many people are forced to "go private", even if uninsured.) The NHS is Britain's largest direct and indirect employer, with 1.3 million workers. It is not, despite maverick MEP Daniel Hannan's assertion, the second largest employer in the world.<ref>http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/the-staggers/2012/02/nhs-rank-world-employer-char</ref> This cradle-to-grave entitlement costs Britain $158 billion (USD) per year. Britain’s Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron is looking to reform the state-run health-care system, which he called "second-rate" due to the program’s massive cost and lackluster performance. <ref>[httphttps://dailycaller.com/2011/01/17/prime-minister-cameron-plans-to-reform-britains-government-run-health-care-system/ Prime Minister Cameron plans to reform Britain’s government-run health-care system, The Daily Caller, Jaunuary 17, 2011]</ref>

Official figures published in 2009 revealed that more than 230,000 patients are being forced to wait more than 18 weeks for hospital treatment.<ref>[https://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/120458/Burnham-forgets-230-000-on-list BURNHAM FORGETS 230,000 ON LIST, Daily Express UK, August 14, 2009]</ref> As a result of its comprehensive coverage, the resources of the NHS have been consistently tightly stretched for many years, leading to rationing such as lengthy waiting lists for everything from dental work to surgery. This was the case in the 1980s and 1990s in particular. Since 1997, the NHS has benefited from substantially increased spending under the Labour Party, but there is a perception among many in Britain that the extra money has not been well spent or delivered appropriate improvements. HoweverRead more about ''"Delay, it is noteworthy that when individuals are surveyed regarding their own experience Denial and Dilution, The Impact of the NHS, the vast majority report positive experiencesRationing on Heart Disease and Cancer."'' <ref>[http://www.liberty-page.com/issues/healthcare/rationreport. pdf Rationing PDF Report]</ref> 

<ref> Rebecca Smith, "'Cruel and neglectful' care of one million NHS patients exposed," [httphttps://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/6092658/Cruel-and-neglectful-care-of-one-million-NHS-patients-exposed.html ''Telegraph'' (London) 27 Aug 2009]</ref>Many critics, including Daniel Hannan, have expressed serious concern over the failure of the NHS in providing Britain with an acceptable health care. Criticism included the immense wasteful costs of the NHS, shortage of doctors and other vital employees, lack of available care, and poor quality of facilities and care. Critics have also pointed  However, in 2009, according to the fact that many British OECD's Health Data report, Britain was found to spend less public money per capita on health provision than the USA, despite NHS care being free at the point of need for all citizens, and the USA system requiring citizens travel to also pay for private insurance. Life expectancy in the United States USA is less than that in Britain.<ref>[http://flipchartfairytales.wordpress.com/2009/08/14/the-nhs-as-good-as-us-heathcare-but-much-much-cheaper/]</ref> ==NICE==National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) proudly boasts of "Developing a series of national clinical guidelines to receive proper secure consistent, high quality of care, because it simply evidence based care for patients." NICE is responsible for giving advice which effectively rations the supply of government provided treatments and drugs. It does not exist in this by a careful and complicated consideration of Quality Adjusted Life Years (the British systemQALY), taking into account how a particular treatment affects this figure on average. Ultimately the number of dollars per QALY is what dictates whether a medicine is then made available via the NHS. These decisions are inevitably controversial at times and some even go so far as to accuse them of denying life saving medication.<ref>[http://blogswww.telegraphthenorthernecho.co.uk/news/authorcampaigns/danielhannannhsinjustice/8251183.Anger_as_Nice_denies_cancer_patient_life_extending_drug/ END NHS INJUSTICE, The Northern Echo, July 2, 2010]</ref>

The NHS is supported by politicians of all parties in the UK, but is widely regarded as the child of the Labour Party, and inspires particular affection in the supporters of this party. All post [[World War II]] governments have consistently supported the National Health Service. British voters take great pride in what they regard as the free servicesprovision of basic human needs such as healthcare and schooling. Many politicians including [[Margaret Thatcher]] have worked to reform the National Health Service and make it more efficient .<Refref>http://www.margaretthatcher.org/essential/biography.asp#ess87-90</Refref> but it However, perhaps due to its overwhelming size and entrenched popularity, this has continued to grow more and more bureaucratic be a difficult and inefficientcontroversial task.

==ReferencesSee also==*[[Taxpayer-funded abortion]]* [[ObamaCare]]

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