Comments on: Have you heard of Aneurin Bevan? http://anilnetto.com/society/health-care/have-you-heard-of-aneurin-bevan/ Let justice flow like a mighty river Sat, 26 May 2012 00:14:03 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Phua Kai Lit http://anilnetto.com/society/health-care/have-you-heard-of-aneurin-bevan/comment-page-2/#comment-42101 Phua Kai Lit Mon, 29 Mar 2010 00:47:39 +0000 http://anilnetto.com/?p=19598#comment-42101 Dear Fong There is no health system without problems. From comparative data, we know that Britain's NHS (actually not one but a number e.g. the NHS of England, the NHS of Scotland etc)is one of the most cost-effective of the "developed" nations in terms of percentage of GNP. The most heavily market-oriented (the USA) costs the most but yet an estimated 40 million of the citizens are uninsured. In the English NHS, the GPs contract with the NHS and are paid on a "capitation" basis, i.e. depending on the number of people on their list. The hospital-based specialists are paid (high) salaries. The healthcare market is prone to market failure for various reasons. You can read Princeton University health economist Uwe Reinhardt's writings on this. Dear Fong

There is no health system without problems.

From comparative data, we know that Britain’s NHS
(actually not one but a number e.g. the NHS of England, the NHS of Scotland etc)is one of the most cost-effective of the “developed” nations in terms
of percentage of GNP.

The most heavily market-oriented (the USA) costs the most but yet an estimated 40 million of the citizens are uninsured.

In the English NHS, the GPs contract with the NHS and are paid on a “capitation” basis, i.e. depending on the number of people on their list. The
hospital-based specialists are paid (high) salaries.

The healthcare market is prone to market failure for various reasons. You can read Princeton University health economist Uwe Reinhardt’s writings on this.

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]]> By: anilnetto http://anilnetto.com/society/health-care/have-you-heard-of-aneurin-bevan/comment-page-2/#comment-41750 anilnetto Thu, 25 Mar 2010 04:35:20 +0000 http://anilnetto.com/?p=19598#comment-41750 How much does Britain spend on defence? If only a fraction of that was used to support NHS, it would not be unsustainable, would it? How much does Britain spend on defence? If only a fraction of that was used to support NHS, it would not be unsustainable, would it?

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]]> By: Fong http://anilnetto.com/society/health-care/have-you-heard-of-aneurin-bevan/comment-page-2/#comment-41748 Fong Thu, 25 Mar 2010 04:24:26 +0000 http://anilnetto.com/?p=19598#comment-41748 I heard the cost of Britain's National Health Service is unsustainable. They are on the verge of bankruptcy. Is this true? Complete Government control is not the most efficient system. There must be some degree of free market and entrepreneurial competition to ensure efficiency and sustainability from a financial perspective. I heard the cost of Britain’s National Health Service is unsustainable. They are on the verge of bankruptcy. Is this true?

Complete Government control is not the most efficient system. There must be some degree of free market and entrepreneurial competition to ensure efficiency and sustainability from a financial perspective.

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]]> By: anilnetto http://anilnetto.com/society/health-care/have-you-heard-of-aneurin-bevan/comment-page-2/#comment-41669 anilnetto Tue, 23 Mar 2010 18:04:57 +0000 http://anilnetto.com/?p=19598#comment-41669 Thanks Sean for the feedback. That slowdown could be due to a couple of plugins/widgets I added around that time, which I have since removed. And it does seem a bit faster now. The 0.92 secs for loading the page today could be due to the slideshow on the Botanic Gardens, which extracts the photos from a photo-hosting site. Thanks Sean for the feedback. That slowdown could be due to a couple of plugins/widgets I added around that time, which I have since removed. And it does seem a bit faster now.
The 0.92 secs for loading the page today could be due to the slideshow on the Botanic Gardens, which extracts the photos from a photo-hosting site.

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]]> By: Sean http://anilnetto.com/society/health-care/have-you-heard-of-aneurin-bevan/comment-page-2/#comment-41667 Sean Tue, 23 Mar 2010 17:46:29 +0000 http://anilnetto.com/?p=19598#comment-41667 Your site was - up until a few days ago (can't remember exactly) - the fastest to load of the half-dozen or so in my 'News' bookmarks. It has been the slowest for a few days. Iron's error can happen when the server is overloaded (but also when the server admin mucks about with the database). WordPress sites often include a comment at the bottom of the page source to tell you how long the pages are taking to build. Variations in that amount for the same page could give you a clue to help you know if your host is struggling. Just now it said "0.96 seconds" which does seem a bit long for a single page. You've got some kind of WordPress cache, so it doesn't generate the pages from scratch each time it sends them out - those timings may only change when you update a story or add a comment to it. Maybe you could ask a fengshui expert if sharing a server with kimkardashian is auspicious? Your site was – up until a few days ago (can’t remember exactly) – the fastest to load of the half-dozen or so in my ‘News’ bookmarks. It has been the slowest for a few days. Iron’s error can happen when the server is overloaded (but also when the server admin mucks about with the database).

WordPress sites often include a comment at the bottom of the page source to tell you how long the pages are taking to build. Variations in that amount for the same page could give you a clue to help you know if your host is struggling. Just now it said “0.96 seconds” which does seem a bit long for a single page. You’ve got some kind of WordPress cache, so it doesn’t generate the pages from scratch each time it sends them out – those timings may only change when you update a story or add a comment to it.

Maybe you could ask a fengshui expert if sharing a server with kimkardashian is auspicious?

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]]> By: anilnetto http://anilnetto.com/society/health-care/have-you-heard-of-aneurin-bevan/comment-page-2/#comment-41652 anilnetto Tue, 23 Mar 2010 15:19:36 +0000 http://anilnetto.com/?p=19598#comment-41652 Surely prompt treatment is part of the quality of care - and as you say, it should be no different irrespective of ability to pay. Surely prompt treatment is part of the quality of care – and as you say, it should be no different irrespective of ability to pay.

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]]> By: Thinesh http://anilnetto.com/society/health-care/have-you-heard-of-aneurin-bevan/comment-page-2/#comment-41624 Thinesh Tue, 23 Mar 2010 09:28:46 +0000 http://anilnetto.com/?p=19598#comment-41624 Im a little confused...what is wrong with people who are richer being able to pay for faster treatment? There is a shortage of resources in every public system, and it is their basic right to be able to pay and get faster access to a specialist. What should be of concern is not this, but how long a person of low income should have to wait before being seen. It may not be immediate, but it must be fast enough for the patient's own good. Surely that is enough? Also the quality of care/facilities/expertise should be no different for different income groups. Im a little confused…what is wrong with people who are richer being able to pay for faster treatment? There is a shortage of resources in every public system, and it is their basic right to be able to pay and get faster access to a specialist. What should be of concern is not this, but how long a person of low income should have to wait before being seen. It may not be immediate, but it must be fast enough for the patient’s own good. Surely that is enough? Also the quality of care/facilities/expertise should be no different for different income groups.

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]]> By: Phua Kai Lit http://anilnetto.com/society/health-care/have-you-heard-of-aneurin-bevan/comment-page-2/#comment-41606 Phua Kai Lit Tue, 23 Mar 2010 06:31:00 +0000 http://anilnetto.com/?p=19598#comment-41606 Dear Anil Here is something I wrote for the MInistry of Health: SAFEGUARDING ACCESS TO MEDICAL SERVICES (SECONDARY AND TERTIARY CARE) FOR MALAYSIAN CITIZENS WHILST PROMOTING HEALTH TOURISM The Government of Malaysia has decided to promote health tourism in order to move the economy up the value chain and spur economic growth. Although this policy will contribute to an increase in the Gross National Product, there are certain negative effects that can be anticipated and which should be pointed out clearly. This will enable the Government and the Ministry of Health to take action in order to safeguard access to medical services for our own citizens. When evaluating health tourism, the focus should NOT be on the citizenship of patients. Promotion of health tourism is simply the equivalent of encouraging more consumption of medical services by more affluent patients (i.e. patients who are able to pay for higher end or more expensive medical services). We can anticipate the following negative effects: Increased demand resulting in higher prices in the short run for Malaysian patients seeking care in private hospitals Increased demand for higher end services, thus influencing the distribution of health personnel supplying the different kinds of medical care (“secondary/tertiary care” versus “primary care”) and the distribution of doctors between the different medical specialties (such as more doctors specializing in cosmetic surgery) Increased outflow of personnel (especially specialist doctors) from the public hospitals to the more lucrative private hospitals that cater to medical tourists - this will further exacerbate the shortage of specialist doctors in the public hospitals In the light of the above, the Government and the Ministry of Health need to take action to safeguard access to medical services by our own citizens, e.g. regulating prices or setting price guidelines for private hospitals; making it easier for doctors to specialize in certain areas (such as cardiology to treat the growing number of heart disease patients) while making it more difficult to specialize in other less essential areas (such as cosmetic surgery); making it more rewarding for specialist doctors to stay in the public sector and so on. We can also learn from other countries about the positive and negative effects of promotion of health tourism, e.g. Costa Rica, South Africa, Thailand, India, Singapore, the Czech Republic and so on. Dear Anil

Here is something I wrote for the MInistry of Health:

SAFEGUARDING ACCESS TO MEDICAL SERVICES (SECONDARY AND TERTIARY CARE) FOR MALAYSIAN CITIZENS WHILST PROMOTING HEALTH TOURISM

The Government of Malaysia has decided to promote health tourism in order to move the economy up the value chain and spur economic growth.

Although this policy will contribute to an increase in the Gross National Product, there are certain negative effects that can be anticipated and which should be pointed out clearly. This will enable the Government and the Ministry of Health to take action in order to safeguard access to medical services for our own citizens.

When evaluating health tourism, the focus should NOT be on the citizenship of patients. Promotion of health tourism is simply the equivalent of encouraging more consumption of medical services by more affluent patients (i.e. patients who are able to pay for higher end or more expensive medical services).
We can anticipate the following negative effects:

Increased demand resulting in higher prices in the short run for Malaysian patients seeking care in private hospitals

Increased demand for higher end services, thus influencing the distribution of health personnel supplying the different kinds of medical care (“secondary/tertiary care” versus “primary care”) and the distribution of doctors between the different medical specialties (such as more doctors specializing in cosmetic surgery)

Increased outflow of personnel (especially specialist doctors) from the public hospitals to the more lucrative private hospitals that cater to medical tourists – this will further exacerbate the shortage of specialist doctors in the public hospitals

In the light of the above, the Government and the Ministry of Health need to take action to safeguard access to medical services by our own citizens, e.g. regulating prices or setting price guidelines for private hospitals; making it easier for doctors to specialize in certain areas (such as cardiology to treat the growing number of heart disease patients) while making it more difficult to specialize in other less essential areas (such as cosmetic surgery); making it more rewarding for specialist doctors to stay in the public sector and so on.

We can also learn from other countries about the positive and negative effects of promotion of health tourism, e.g. Costa Rica, South Africa, Thailand, India, Singapore, the Czech Republic and so on.

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]]> By: anilnetto http://anilnetto.com/society/health-care/have-you-heard-of-aneurin-bevan/comment-page-2/#comment-41599 anilnetto Tue, 23 Mar 2010 03:28:20 +0000 http://anilnetto.com/?p=19598#comment-41599 Thanks for the tip off. I haven't spotted such an error of late. Has anyone else experienced the same problem? Thanks for the tip off. I haven’t spotted such an error of late. Has anyone else experienced the same problem?

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]]> By: Iron http://anilnetto.com/society/health-care/have-you-heard-of-aneurin-bevan/comment-page-2/#comment-41595 Iron Tue, 23 Mar 2010 02:10:39 +0000 http://anilnetto.com/?p=19598#comment-41595 Anil, There have been too many "errors" on your blog lately. Just minutes ago I got the "database error" thing when trying to access your blog. Anil,

There have been too many “errors” on your blog lately.

Just minutes ago I got the “database error” thing when trying to access your blog.

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