Saturday, November 27, 2010

British ObamaCare update: Postcode lottery

Government is an inefficient distributor of services, which is why no one should be surprised that a postcode lottery exists in Great Britain, which has had government-run health care for over sixty years.

Postcodes are the UK equivalent of our ZIP codes. Here's how their lottery works: The amount of care you receive, or whether you receive any at all, varies from one postcode to another.

Right Care has developed the NHS Atlas of Variation.

The Telegraph has more on the cartographic conundrum:

For the first time geographical differences have been drawn together into a series of 34 maps that the public can view online to see how well their region is performing.

It shows a 14-fold difference in spend on broken hips between best and worst areas; a four-fold variation in the proportion of stroke patients who spend almost all their hospital time in a dedicated stroke unit; and a 38-fold difference in rates of obesity surgery.

Some health authorities spent more than two-and-a-half times as much on mental health services, while there were similar differences in spend on inpatient cancer care.

Lord Howe, the Health Minister, welcomed publication of the atlas, saying: "In order to improve unwarranted variations in services, it is vital to expose existing flaws in the system."
This could be America in 2020.

Related posts:

British ObamaCare update: Rationing now, rationing forever
British ObamaCare update: Hospital "failed to respect human rights"
British ObamaCare update: Whistleblowers punished
British ObamaCare update: UK newspaper defeats health care rationers
British ObamaCare update: English get cancer drugs, Scots don't
British ObamaCare update: Inadequate hygiene in Scotland
NHS buys porn for sperm donors
British ObamaCare update: Hospital produces instructional handwashing video for doctors and nurses
British ObamaCare update: Record increase in complaints
British ObamaCare update: Elderly left to starve in hospitals
British ObamaCare update: Rationing and shunning
British ObamaCare update: Wife succeeds in getting proper care for husband--after going on hunger strike
British ObamaCare update: Over 300 NHS bosses make more than prime minister
British ObamaCare update: Gov't-run health care not really redistributional
British ObamaCare update: Even more rationing could be coming
British ObamaCare update: First baby born under NHS feels betrayed by system
British ObamaCare update: New PM looking at hospital with 1,200 needless deaths
British Obama Care update: Rationing expanded, kids are the victims
British ObamaCare update: Life-saving drug judged too expensive
British ObamaCare update: Hospital seeking "Hair Removal Specialist - Transgender Services"
British ObamaCare update: Babies' blood used for secret DNA database
British ObamaCare update: Dead bodies dumped on floor of morgue
British ObamaCare update: Health care workers asked to rate Hitler on "coolness"
British ObamaCare update: Bureaucrats getting in the way of saving lives
British ObamaCare update: Fighting waste is not so easy
British ObamaCare update: Hero left to lie in own excrement
British ObamaCare update: Woman barred from surgery after seeing private doctor
British ObamaCare update: Basic surgeries being withheld to save money
2009 British ObamaCare entries

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