Major study on the NHS reveals over 17,000 unnecessary deaths a year

Download the full report here (PDF).

"A statistical analysis of World Health Organisation data reveals that the poor performance of the NHS is causing 17,157 deaths per year and that £34 billion of extra spending under Brown has made no difference to UK mortality" Read More

Blogs

3.40pm, Burning Our Money
Mike Denham:
PFI Plug Sockets

The Report also highlights a point very familiar to BOM readers- the staff handling these negotiations for many public sector PFI customers are simply not up to the job. They report "poor control of change requests, inadequate job briefs, no checks or... - Read More

3.40pm, Better Government
Matthew Sinclair:
Some rather weak responses to our report on NHS performance

Today we've had some lackluster responses to our study Wasting Lives: A statistical analysis of NHS performance in European context since 1981... - Read More

3.15pm, Better Government
Matthew Sinclair:
Decline in educational standards affecting the economy

The Telegraph reports that an inquiry by Cambridge University has found that a failure to teach children the three Rs - literacy and numeracy - is hurting economic productivity.  They found that there was a significant productivity gap between the UK and France, with 30 per cent higher productivity, and Germany and the US, with 10 per cent higher productivity... - Read More

Media Coverage

- 17,000 are dying needlessly despite £34bn spent on NHS

THOUSANDS of people are dying unnecessarily from treatable diseases despite more than pounds 34 billion of investment in the NHS, a report says today.

Poor performance within the health service meant that 17,157 people died in 2004 alone from conditions that should have been successfully treated, the TaxPayers' Alliance claims.

Britain compares poorly with other European countries on deaths that good health care can reasonably be expected to prevent. These include conditions such as certain cancers, diabetes, flu, some cases of heart disease and some infectious diseases.

The mortality rate in Britain was at an almost uniform rate between 1981 and 2004, implying the extra billions pumped in by the Labour Government since 1999 has had little effect on patients, the report says. - Daily Telegraph

- NHS accused of 17,000 unnecessary deaths

More than 17,000 people receiving treatment in the UK have died unnecessarily because of the inadequacies of the NHS, it is claimed today.

"Thousands of people are dying every year thanks to Britain's health service not delivering the standards people expect and receive in other European countries," said Matthew Sinclair, a policy analyst at the TaxPayers Alliance and author of the report.

"Billions of pounds have been thrown at the NHS but the additional spending has made no discernible difference to the long-term pattern of falling mortality . . . we need to learn lessons from European countries with healthcare systems that don't suffer from political management, monopolistic provision and centralisation." - Guardian

- The 17,000 NHS deaths that would not happen in Europe

MORE than 17,000 people are dying every year because the NHS has become a 'vast bureaucratic monolith', a report says today...

In a foreword to the report by the TaxPayers' Alliance, respected cancer expert Professor Karol Sikora, of Imperial College, said: "Real reform and not more money is the only rational way forward. This piece of research comes to the alarming conclusion that despite more than tripling NHS spending over the last decade, we have not increased the pace of improvement in the most important measurement of its output - its ability to save lives. On our ability to save lives, on quality of service provision and on access to technology, we still lag far behind Europe which is far less dependent on public sector monopoly." - Daily Mail

- Peers claim £18m a year in tax-free 'pay'

PEERS are raking in up to £48,000 a year in tax-free expenses which they treat as a 'form of pay', according to an official report. An independent review of Parliamentary allowances and salaries said some members of the Upper House apparently fail to understand that their role is supposed to be unpaid.

Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the Taxpayers' Alliance campaign group, said: 'People are increasingly concerned that politicians are exploiting the taxpayer financially. No one minds Lords being recompensed for basic expenses and their time, but the allowances are not a guaranteed salary. Peers have so far escaped the criticism MPs get from the public, and they should be careful not to join them in the public's bad books. These payments are a privilege, not a right.' - Daily Mail

- '17k die yearly over poor NHS'

Matthew Sinclair, author of the report and a policy analyst at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “Thousands are dying every year thanks to Britain’s health service not delivering the standards people expect and receive in other European countries. Billions of pounds have been thrown at the NHS but the additional spending has made no discernible difference to the long-term pattern of falling mortality. This is a colossal waste of lives and money. We need to learn lessons from European countries with healthcare systems that don’t suffer from political management, monopolistic provision and centralisation.” - The Sun

- Report slams poor NHS performance

Matthew Sinclair, author of the report and a policy analyst at the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "Thousands are dying every year thanks to Britain's health service not delivering the standards people expect and receive in other European countries. Billions of pounds have been thrown at the NHS but the additional spending has made no discernible difference to the long-term pattern of falling mortality. This is a colossal waste of lives and money. We need to learn lessons from European countries with healthcare systems that don't suffer from political management, monopolistic provision and centralisation." - Daily Express