UK falls further down European health league despite rise in funding

U.K. Guardian reports:

Britain's National Health Service remains a "mediocre" provider of healthcare, performing much less well than almost all of the UK's peers in western Europe, according to a European survey.

The index of European health services, issued yesterday in Brussels by Health Consumer Powerhouse, found Britain had slid further down the European league table over the past year despite the investment in the NHS under New Labour. Of 29 countries assessed, the EU's 27 plus Norway and Switzerland, Britain came 17th.


Apart from Italy, all the countries ranked worse than Britain were much poorer, mainly from eastern Europe. Apart from Italy and Portugal, all the countries of western Europe and Scandinavia scored much higher than Britain. The same survey last year put Britain 15th.

"Patients in the UK have the right to expect more. Despite substantial funding increases, the UK still is a mediocre overall performer," said Anje Björnberg, director of Health Consumer Powerhouse.

Socialism isn't into customer service.