Rationing and the NHS
With health care free at the point of use there is a shortage of health care, demand exceeds supply. Therefore the govt has to ration health care.
How to Ration Health Care
1. First come first served: This appears fair but doesn’t discriminate between those who need it more than others
2. On basis of need: Doctors could treat those who were in most need of treatment and were suffering from the most serious illness’
However the problem of this is that :
a) some people could wait along time for non emergency operations
b) It might be difficult to judge who is the most serious case
3. Rationing according to who deserves it most.
E.g. If somebody has lung cancer because of smoking, then should they be made to wait or is it wrong to judge somebody because of their lifestyle choices?
This puts doctors in a difficult situation of making moral choices.
No system of rationing is perfect therefore an alternative is to try and reduce waiting lists by either:
1. Increasing spending on the NHS
2. Encouraging more people to go private
Essays and Revision Notes on Government Failure
- Government Failure
- Privatisation of Public Services
- Should We Pay for NHS?
- Rationing and the NHS
- Why Government Intervention ?
- Market Failure
- Buffer Stocks
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