¶ … NHS in Modern Britain What are the most important factors influencing the NHS in modern Britain?

The National Health Service (NHS) was founded after the end of World War II. This is because the war highlighted a number of challenges that had to be addressed to include:

Inequality in the way services are delivered.

Financial difficulties associated with voluntary hospitals.

Views that the government could more effectively provide services to the general public.

The establishment of an existing emergency medical service as a part of the war effort.

The combination of these factors meant that there was a transformation in the way health care services were provided to everyone. This is when the NHS became the primary organization for delivering these services after 1948. (Rivett 2011)

Since this time, the NHS has become an integral part in the way health care solutions are provided in Britain. However, this system has resulted in a number of different factors that are influencing the way these services are delivered. The most notable include:

Costs: The total amounts of spending on health care services in the UK is accounting for 9.6% of all GDP growth. While this is lower in contrast with...

The United States), the reality is that these costs are impacting the kinds of services that are provided. The way that this is occurring is through having the government focusing on programs that will meet the needs of select segments of the population. (Health Care Spending Around the World 2012) (Mackean 2012)
For example, in 2011 the NHS spent a total of £27 million on gluten free pizza prescriptions. What makes this so troubling is that the costs for the pizza are £8.95. However, when the fees for shipping and handling are calculated the prices increased to £34.00. This is disquieting, as the costs for receiving the pizza is more than the actual product. (Mackean 2012)

Commenting about these actions the NHS released a statement saying, "The aim of providing gluten-free food products on NHS prescription is to encourage patients with coeliac disease to stick to a gluten free, nutritious diet so they do not go on to develop more serious illnesses, which can affect their quality of life as well as being much more costly for the NHS." These facts are showing how this program is not designed to reduce costs. Instead, government bureaucrats are spending more money because they feel that this is cheaper over the long-term. These kinds of…