Health Supplements

The NHS

Posted on 08. Aug, 2011 by admin in Primary health

The history of the NHS

The NHS was founded in 1948 and is now the largest publicly-funded health system in the world. The NHS is also the largest employer in the UNITED KINGDOM which employs more than 1.7 million people.

The NHS was founded to enable everyone access to healthcare services and was founded on the principle that everyone should have the right to access the same services, regardless of their income or social status. The aim of the NHS is to provide first class care to everyone living in the UNITED KINGDOM.

The mainstream of NHS services are free to people who live in the UNITED KINGDOM, however, there are small charges for NHS dentistry, optical services and people living in England are obliged to pay prescription charges.

How is the NHS funded?

The NHS is funded by national taxation which means that all UNITED KINGDOM taxpayers contribute to the running costs of the NHS. The NHS budget is determined by the government and once the budget has been decided Strategic Health Authorities and individual primary health trusts are responsible for monitoring services to ensure that there are enough services and resources for patients in their areas. Primary care trusts are due to be phased out in the next few years as an outcome of NHS reform introduced by the new coalition government. Once the reforms are in place GPs will be responsible for controlling most of the budget.

How is the NHS managed?

The NHS is supervised by the Department of Health, headed by the Secretary of State for Health who is responsible for reporting to the Prime Minister. The NHS is centrally funded but the NHS in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland is managed separately by the different parliaments.

Currently the Department of Health controls the Strategic Health Authorities, of which there are currently ten authorities and these are responsible for controlling NHS trusts, however, the coalition government plans to reform the structure of the NHS so this will change by the year 2015.