The head of the United Kingdom's National Health Service (NHS), Sir David Nicholson, has refused to accept responsibility for the needless deaths that occur daily at NHS hospitals by claiming that these deaths are not a result of mismanagement but instead are due to inherent "systemic" failings.

A Look at the UK’s NHS—A Cautionary Tale

by Al Kaltman

A single payer health care system was the original goal of President Obama, and from his perspective while the Affordable Care Act was a step in the right direction, it fell short of what was needed. Should the Democrats regain control of the House in 2014, the President is likely to get the single payer system he desires. But some among his followers, and perhaps even the President himself, want to go even further and create a US National Health Service (NHS). In view of this, it is worth taking a look at the current state of the United Kingdom’s NHS.

The final report of the inquiry into the UK’s Stafford Hospital scandal was published on February 6 and contained 290 recommendations for improvement in hospital operations and staff training. It is generally accepted that between the years 2005 and 2008 as many as 1,200 persons died needlessly at the hospital, and that these deaths were due to shocking lapses in patient care. The horror stories do not need repeating, but what is clear is that the NHS Trust that oversaw the hospital focused on reducing expenses and not on patient care.

Prime Minister Cameron has ordered an investigation into the operations at five other trusts that oversee NHS hospitals, but Sir Brian Jarman, OBE, PhD, FRCP, FFPH, FmedSci, Emeritus Professor, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College, London, the man who first raised concerns about what was happening at Stafford Hospital, believes the number of trusts overseeing hospitals with higher than expected mortality rates that