BMJ  2005;330:597-599 (12 March), doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7491.597

Education and debate

US and UK health care: a special relationship?

Money can't buy you satisfaction

¹ University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2RT

Organisational differences between the US and UK healthcare systems mean that ideas have to be adapted through learning partnerships rather than simply copied

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Introduction

The NHS performs as well as or better than the US healthcare system on many objective indicators. Yet the United Kingdom shows greater interest in learning from the United States than vice versa. Is this paradox a consequence of American insularity, British credulity, or some other factor? And is there any prospect of the balance of trade in health policy ideas being reversed? If so, what aspects of health care in the United Kingdom should the United States be studying and seeking to learn from?

Comparing the two systems

Take the facts first. The United States spends almost 15% of gross domestic product on health care¹ compared with less than 8% in the United Kingdom.² Population health as measured by infant mortality and life expectancy are broadly comparable in the two countries and lag behind those achieved in high performing systems like Japan and Sweden.³ Although the majority of the public in both the . . . [Full text of this article]

Lessons taken from the United States

Explaining the paradox

What might the United States learn from Britain?

Multilateral rather than bilateral learning

Conclusion

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