What Are the Important Factors Influencing the Nhs in Modern Britain?
Introduction
The influences affecting the NHS today sometime are not evident unless viewed against the changes and trends that have developed since its inception. After the World War II it was an era of simplicity and desperation the general population had housing crisis, food shortage and raw material shortages etc.
Political Influences
On a global political stand point there was a uniting of ideas and governments; what we know today as the United Nations (UN). One of the main ideas which the UN has grown up around is ‘The individual possess rights simply by virtue of being Human’ (The Universal Declaration of human rights); which was adopted by the general assembly in 10th December 1948. This statement is reflect in the core principles of the NHS which states ‘The NHS has a duty to every patient it serves and must respect their human rights’.[1]
1940’s & 1950
The establishment of the NHS was driven by the then minister of health Aneurin Bevan on the 5th July 1948. The funding for the NHS came from central taxation where the rich paid more than the poor for the same services. The problems of today’s NHS are also still evident since its inception on how to fund and manage it.
The NHS became a target for a political platform while destruction of it would be political suicide. In 1951the committee of economic situation identified the NHS for a reduction in expenditure. The Conservative government became committed to tax cuts, and recommended that there be a charge for prescription and charges for dental treatment or to stop the services all together. In 1952 the charges where integrated into the NHS act 1952 which also granted the GP’S £27 million in Back pay. In 1953 the guillebaud committee was formed to enquire in to the cost of the NHS the guillebaud report looked in to preventing increases on spending not on cuts. 1956 the report stated they could not find any new ways to increase income or to reduce the expenditure but that “capital expenditure was to low”
The influences affecting the NHS today sometime are not evident unless viewed against the changes and trends that have developed since its inception. After the World War II it was an era of simplicity and desperation the general population had housing crisis, food shortage and raw material shortages etc.
Political Influences
On a global political stand point there was a uniting of ideas and governments; what we know today as the United Nations (UN). One of the main ideas which the UN has grown up around is ‘The individual possess rights simply by virtue of being Human’ (The Universal Declaration of human rights); which was adopted by the general assembly in 10th December 1948. This statement is reflect in the core principles of the NHS which states ‘The NHS has a duty to every patient it serves and must respect their human rights’.[1]
1940’s & 1950
The establishment of the NHS was driven by the then minister of health Aneurin Bevan on the 5th July 1948. The funding for the NHS came from central taxation where the rich paid more than the poor for the same services. The problems of today’s NHS are also still evident since its inception on how to fund and manage it.
The NHS became a target for a political platform while destruction of it would be political suicide. In 1951the committee of economic situation identified the NHS for a reduction in expenditure. The Conservative government became committed to tax cuts, and recommended that there be a charge for prescription and charges for dental treatment or to stop the services all together. In 1952 the charges where integrated into the NHS act 1952 which also granted the GP’S £27 million in Back pay. In 1953 the guillebaud committee was formed to enquire in to the cost of the NHS the guillebaud report looked in to preventing increases on spending not on cuts. 1956 the report stated they could not find any new ways to increase income or to reduce the expenditure but that “capital expenditure was to low”
References: [1] (The NHS Choices (2011). NHS core principles. [ONLINE] Available at http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/thenhs/about/Pages/nhscoreprinciples.aspx. [Last Accessed 14 October 2011]). [2] Hansard (25 January 1956). Guillebaud Report. [ONLINE] Available at: http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1956/jan/25/national-health-service-guillebaud-report. [Last Accessed 16 October 2011]. [3] The national archives (e.g. 2011). Politics of health in the 1960s and 1970s. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/cabinetpapers/alevelstudies/politics-health.htm. [Last Accessed 17 October 2011]. [4] Robert griffith (1983). NHS management inquiry. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.sochealth.co.uk/history/griffiths.htm. [Last Accessed 17 October 2011]. [5]The National Archives (1990). The National Health Service and Community Care Act’. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1990/19/contents. [Last Accessed 13 October 2011]. The NHS Choices (2011). NHS core principles. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/thenhs/about/Pages/nhscoreprinciples.aspx. [Last Accessed 14 October 2011]. The national archives (1915 -1980). The NHS under the Conservatives. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/cabinetpapers/themes/conservative-rule.htm. [Last Accessed 16 October 2011]. Hansard (25 January 1956). Guillebaud Report. [ONLINE] Available at: http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1956/jan/25/national-health-service-guillebaud-report. [Last Accessed 16 October 2011]. The NHS Choices (2011). NHS core principles. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/thenhs/about/Pages/nhscoreprinciples.aspx. [Last Accessed 14 October 2011]. The national archives (1915 -1980). The NHS under the Conservatives. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/cabinetpapers/themes/conservative-rule.htm. [Last Accessed 16 October 2011]. Hansard (25 January 1956). Guillebaud Report. [ONLINE] Available at: http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1956/jan/25/national-health-service-guillebaud-report. [Last Accessed 16 October 2011]. Ronald P. Rubin, (2007). A Brief History of Great Discoveries in Pharmacology: In Celebration of the Centennial Anniversary of the Founding of the American Society of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics . pharmacological review. 59 , pp.4