Craig Whittaker has posted his refusal to constituents’ requests that he vote for the cross-party NHS (Reinstatement) Bill at its second reading in the House of Commons on 11 March.
His refusal includes the claim that:
“…an authoritative comparative study of the performance of different national health systems recently concluded that the NHS, from 2010 to 2015 was the best health service in the world.”
I’ve asked Craig Whittaker’s constituency office which study he’s talking about and they don’t know but say they will ask him and let me know, probably on Monday.
The only 2015 comparative study of the performance of different national health systems that I’ve come across is the OECD report, Health at a Glance. The data in this report is from 2013 (or nearest year), so doesn’t refer to the 2010-15 period. And it is far from indicating that the NHS was the best health service in the world at that time. The OECD report also says the NHS is under financial strain, with spending having remained static between 2009 and 2013, in real, per person terms.
So that can’t be the authoritative 2012 study that Craig Whittaker MP has referred to.
Here is Craig Whittaker’s refusal to vote for the NHS Bill: Continue reading