It is funded by a mixture of State funding and a form of levy on employees (krankenkasse) set up by Bismark which goes into one of around 1,100 funds. Employees contribute 7% of their income.

In terms of efficiency, the UK spends 70% per head of what Germany spends.

Cummings has said:

1 The first lockdown came too late
2 Care Homes were forced to take people from hospitals who would certainly have already had COVID
3 The third lockdown should have been avoided by a 'firebreak'
4 The Government was in disarray and headless
5 Johnson was far more interested in the effect on economics than public health
6 That interest ended up backfiring as the economy suffered for a longer period

All of this falls into the category of 'no sh*t Sherlock'.

I have no doubt if you look back over posts at the time you will see many of us stating all of these things before it was too late

As a businessman I implemented a lockdown before the Government did. We refused hospital patients to protect our residents. We argued for a firebreak and watched a slow motion car crash in the Autumn.

As a result, in December 19 residents in one Home caught COVID and 7 died. It was heartbreaking and absolutely avoidable. Most were people enjoying life with plenty more years to live.

Cummings' confirmation is welcome but hardly news.

Anyone that thinks the Labour Party would have taken the same path isn't paying attention. Johnson was far more interested in financial wellbeing than the health of the nation, which would not have been the case with the Labour Party despite any other failings it may or may not have.

Seriously? Are you saying that privatised healthcare doesn't exist in Europe. It tends to be a mixture hospitals are state run GPS and minor procedures private.

just go and Google it.

One more point

Croynism around the NHS has lead to ridiculous levels of protection for it.

People from the UK that have never experienced alternative health care don't see how bad it is.

Much like how people who've never left London can't see how bad crime in the capital is.

Free at the point of use for doesn't work. It just creates layers and layers of inefficient bureaucracy. Doctors end up accountable to bureaucrats that pay them and not patient.

GP's surgeries have always been limited companies who get to claim from the NHS based on the number of people registered to them. It's a payment mechanism that incentivises getting as many people registered as possible and not helping patients. They are generally owned by a few old GP's with no idea how to run a business. Full privatisation would make these better.

Those who have the ability to dodge tax get access to free healthcare and people that can't afford to dodge tax pick up the bill.

People are no longer taking accountability for their own health. Then complaining that they can't get access to a free service. People have enough money to shove drugs up their nose every weekend, then complain they can't get free mental health treatment.

I think the poorest should still have access to free healthcare, but I'd much rather pay 30% tax and pay to see a GP rather than 40% tax and get one for free.

"In summary, little evidence seems to exist to prove the belief that the NHS is the “envy of the world”, at least if we are talking about the developed world. The UK’s health service surely provides adequate and often excellent care, but many questions remain about whether that care is as good as the standards of our cultural and physical neighbors in Europe and the rest of the world. The author believes that the British public deserves a rational debate about how best to finance, organize and provide healthcare in the UK today.

[Link]

Pro China, EU & Palestine

The Commonwealth Fund 2014 report said the NHS was the most cost-effective system of the 11 countries they looked at. A 2011 study found the NHS saved more lives per pound spent than any other country studied except Ireland.