Health spend highest in EU and still...Eurostat figures can’t be ignored

Eurostat report that shows our Government spends a greater proportion of its income — 19.9% — on health than any other EU administration must shape the debate about honesty, the efficient use of resources, and waste in that vital but dishearteningly dysfunctional sector.

One of the paths towards self-realisation is considering how others might see us. By stripping away delusion and vanity, hubris and any unwarranted sense of victimhood, we can take the first steps towards life-changing reforms. That simple but rewarding process works for societies as well as for individuals.

The Our health service got more than Britain’s NHS — 17.3% — and about four times the ratio spent on health in Greece or Slovakia. These figures challenge the argument that the health service should get preferential treatment if extra funding becomes available. That our health outcomes are, broadly speaking, no more than the European average means that it’s time to stop throwing money at a problem rooted in inefficiency and waste until those bottomless-pit issues are resolved.