NHS fails to rank among the top 20 healthcare providers in the world, with the UK's services being on par with South Korea's, study finds
- Out of 195 countries, the UK ranks 23rd; three points below its position in 1990
- Quality of care varies throughout the UK and is best in south-east England
- UK shines when treating kidney disease but performs worse in pneumonia
- Top countries are Iceland, Norway, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Finland
- Researchers urge countries to improve their healthcare to reduce diseases
The NHS fails to rank among the top 20 healthcare providers in the world, new research suggests.
Out of 195 countries, the UK ranks 23rd, three points below it's 20th position in 1990, which puts it on par with South Korea and Greece, a study found today.
Quality of care also varies substantially throughout the UK, with the south east of England performing better than the north east, the research, published in The Lancet, adds.
Despite providing optimal care for conditions such as chronic kidney disease and appendicitis, the UK performs worse when treating lower respiratory infections, like pneumonia, the study found.
The US, which came 29th on the list, also has considerable differences between states. Massachusetts scores highest with 92.5, which is an 11-point difference from the lowest, Mississippi, at 81.5.
The top countries for healthcare quality and accessibility are Iceland, Norway, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Finland and Australia.
Study author Dr Rafael Lozano, from the University of Washington, said: 'These results emphasise the urgent need to improve both access to and quality of healthcare, otherwise health systems could face widening gaps between the health services they provide and the disease burden in their population.'
The NHS fails to rank among the top 20 healthcare providers in the world (stock)
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How the research was carried out
The researchers analysed data from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries and Risk Factors Study 2016.
They drew up 32 causes of death that should not occur if people have better access to good-quality healthcare.
These include fatalities related to conditions such as measles, whooping cough, diarrhoea, heart disease and epilepsy, as well as injuries from medical treatments.
Cancer registries were used to determine the effects of healthcare accessibility on the disease's survival rate.
Countries were ranked on a scale of one to 100, with zero being the worst.
Differences in healthcare quality within the UK
Results further suggest, south east England's healthcare quality and accessibility ranks 92.8, compared to just 87.8 in the north east.
Overall, the US' healthcare improved by eight points from 1990, with differences between states also closing by 16.7 marks.
On a global scale, healthcare access and quality scores at 54.4, up from 42.4 in 2000.
There is a 78.5-point gap between Iceland, at 97.1, and the lowest scoring country, Central African Republic, at 18.6.
Other low scorers are Somalia at 19, Guinea-Bissau at 23.4, Chad at 25.4 and Afghanistan at 25.9.
'Now is the time to deliver health systems for the next generation'
Speaking of the findings, Dr Lozano said: 'Otherwise health systems could face widening gaps between the health services they provide and the disease burden in their population.'
'Now is the time to invest to help deliver health systems for the next generation.'
Dr Svetlana V Doubova, from the Mexican Institute of Social Security added: 'In the past, the priorities of public health and health-care services focused on infectious diseases and maternal and child health.
'Today, the unbridled growth of non-communicable diseases is an additional priority.'
Non-communicable diseases generally last a long time and progress slowly. Examples include heart disease, asthma and diabetes.
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