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And to be clear if you have an overfunded health system then you are providing good medical treatment to your population in a timely manner. You're just spendi

And to be clear if you have an overfunded health system then you are providing good medical treatment to your population in a timely manner. You're just spending more money doing it than you might otherwise do so. So someone with ethics might argue that if you are in an uncertain area between over and underfunding then it will kill fewer people to err on overfunding.

newsclues 4y ago
Overfunding doesn't always result in effective or good service/products. If management doesn't flow the extra funding to front line staff or resources, it can easily be wasted for zero added value.
- TheOtherHobbes 4y ago
  Which is exactly how the semi-privatised NHS operates. Agencies have been encouraged to set up as independent service providers who can profiteer by price gouging the NHS while paying nurses and doctors pocket money. Renationalising the NHS and limiting the private sector to those few expensive services that are essential would fix this. But both political parties are working for the people who profit from this situation.
rcarr 4y ago
They would be better off addressing the root causes that are sending more and more people to the NHS in the first place. Healthy food needs to be cheaper than unhealthy food, physical exercise needs to be encouraged at a grass roots level, working conditions need a massive overhaul, education needs to improve, salaries need to rise and/or rents need to fall, and housing needs to be of better quality, particularly around insulation. At the minute we’re treating the symptoms and not the cause of the disease.
gmac 4y ago
Not necessarily: my understanding is that in the US a few people probably get more healthcare than the optimum, and many get less, all on an extremely large budget.
- badcppdev 4y ago
  Yes you're correct. I'm not sure I can fix my definition. Would probably have to rip it up and start again. Something involving killing patients if you don't build some leeway into the system.
nradov 4y ago
What does overfunded even mean for a health system? Some patients with serious complex conditions can consume an effectively infinite amount of healthcare services, especially if we want to take heroic measures to keep them alive a bit longer. I don't think there is any amount of funding that could realistically be put in that would make the UK NHS overfunded; you can only compare funding and outcomes relative to other developed countries.

newsclues 4y ago

Overfunding doesn't always result in effective or good service/products. If management doesn't flow the extra funding to front line staff or resources, it can easily be wasted for zero added value.

TheOtherHobbes 4y ago
Which is exactly how the semi-privatised NHS operates. Agencies have been encouraged to set up as independent service providers who can profiteer by price gouging the NHS while paying nurses and doctors pocket money. Renationalising the NHS and limiting the private sector to those few expensive services that are essential would fix this. But both political parties are working for the people who profit from this situation.

rcarr 4y ago

They would be better off addressing the root causes that are sending more and more people to the NHS in the first place. Healthy food needs to be cheaper than unhealthy food, physical exercise needs to be encouraged at a grass roots level, working conditions need a massive overhaul, education needs to improve, salaries need to rise and/or rents need to fall, and housing needs to be of better quality, particularly around insulation. At the minute we’re treating the symptoms and not the cause of the disease.

gmac 4y ago

Not necessarily: my understanding is that in the US a few people probably get more healthcare than the optimum, and many get less, all on an extremely large budget.

badcppdev 4y ago
Yes you're correct. I'm not sure I can fix my definition. Would probably have to rip it up and start again. Something involving killing patients if you don't build some leeway into the system.

nradov 4y ago

What does overfunded even mean for a health system? Some patients with serious complex conditions can consume an effectively infinite amount of healthcare services, especially if we want to take heroic measures to keep them alive a bit longer. I don't think there is any amount of funding that could realistically be put in that would make the UK NHS overfunded; you can only compare funding and outcomes relative to other developed countries.