BMJ  2007;334:442 (3 March), doi:10.1136/bmj.39140.341736.DB

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UK nears European average in proportion of GDP spent on health care

Anne Griffin

BMJ

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

Between 2000 and 2004 the increase in spending on health in the United Kingdom as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) was bigger than the increases in France, Germany, and Italy, says a new report from the Office of Health Economics (OHE).

This means that the gap between the UK and other European countries such as Germany and France in total spending on health as a percentage of GDP has narrowed.

Total spending on health care in the UK rose to an estimated £120bn in 2006, representing 9.4% of GDP, up from 7.1% in 2001. Referring to Tony Blair's promise in 2000 to bring NHS funding up to European levels, Jon Sussex, the office's deputy director, said, "The spending side of the promise seems to have been kept."

A rise in the numbers of doctors and nurses in the UK health services is one effect of the increase in . . . [Full text of this article]


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This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Blewett, L. A. (2009). Persistent Disparities in Access to Care across Health Care Systems. Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law 34: 635-647  
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