The Daily Telegraph, July 9, Roger Bootle
Last week saw the 75th birthday of the NHS. Should we be celebrating? And should we be looking forward to marking many more such anniversaries?
There is more to life than money, and health is one of the most important of these other things. After all, without health, what is the point of wealth? And never mind one’s own interests, wanting to improve the health of its citizens is one of the key markers of a civilised society. But the links between our NHS and the economy are close and powerful.
First, there is the NHS’s sheer size. Including part-timers, it currently employs some 1.8 million people, which is about 5pc of the total workforce. And in 2021/22 total government spending on healthcare was some £217bn, amounting to over 20pc of overall government spending and more than 9pc of GDP.
These figures have been rising inexorably over time. Moreover, they are going to continue rising for many years to come. First, there is increasing life expectancy and the ageing of the population. Over and above this, as medical knowledge increases, expensive new treatments appear. And medical equipment tends to have a high rate of price inflation.
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