The National Health Service (NHS)

The body responsible for public health in UK is the National Health Service (NHS). The NHS is founded on the principle of providing a universal service to all its resident population, based upon need rather than ability to pay. The services are intended to provide treatment and care where necessary while making the best use of the resources available. All taxpayers, employers and employees contribute to the cost so that members of the community who do not require health care help to pay for those who do. Most forms of treatment are provided free, but others incur a charge, such as prescription drugs and eye tests.

The Department of Health (DH) is responsible for national strategic planning in England and for developing and implementing policies for the provision of health services. The National Assembly for Wales, Scottish Executive Health Department and Public Safety in Northern Ireland have similar responsibilities for health provision in their respective countries.

The Government sees the local management of health as important of reducing inequalities. There are 99 health authorities in England responsible for identifying the healthcare needs of the people living in their areas. They secure hospital and community health services and orange for the provision of services by family doctors, dentists, pharmacists and opticians, as well as administering their contracts. Health authorities now have a duty to prepare health government programmes, and to work with Primary Care Groups (PCG) and other bodies.

Patient opinion and involvement have been given greater emphasis by the Health and Social Care Act 2001. Under the Act, NHS bodies have a duty to make arrangements with a view to ensuring that the public are consulted and involved in planning and decision about local health services. The Act also provides for local authority overview and scrutiny committiees to examine the health service in their area.

The NHS is one of the largest employers in the world, with a workforce of nearly 1 million people. In 1999 there were the equivalent of 943,000 whole-time direct care employees in NHS hospital and community health services in Great Britain.

The NHS is making increasing use of new technology in patient care. In March 2001 the DH and the Scottish Executive both agreed to pilot electronic prescription schemes, whereby prescriptions could be sent electronically from GPs (general practitioners) to community pharmacies. In addition, by 2004 the Government has said that every patient in England will be able to access his or her own electronic health record – a summary of key personal and health data about the patient. There are other health information websites: the Medicines Control Agency (MCA) website, which was launched in 2001 and aims to give medical professionals, patients and carers access to information on the latest projects and developments. NHSNet is a range of voice and data services used by the NHS, covering radio, telephone and computer-based communications. By 2002 every GP practice in England will be connected to NHSNet and will be able to resive hospital pathology test results. NHSNet will also support the longer-term goal of introducing electronic health records to replace the paper-based records. This will make possible secure access by doctors to patients’ records in an emergency when they are away from home.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-16