NHS ‘should incorporate insurance system into funding’

A thinktank has called for the introduction of an insurance system to radically alter NHS funding to improve the quality of the health service.

Research from Reform claims that Britain is at the bottom of a league table of countries such as France, Germany, the Netherlands, Japan and Switzerland.

Under its proposals, every individual would pay an annual premium of £2,000 – funded by tax – on health protection insurance from a provider of their choice.

In this transformed system, the role of the government would become that of a regulator, while a supplementary market would be developed to cater for luxury items and drugs to treat rare conditions.

Andrew Haldenby, director of Reform, said: “The prime minister has said that the NHS is the best insurance system in the world – it isn’t yet by any means, but that is the right ambition.”

He added that the Olympics show that an open-minded, rigorous and elitist approach can drive the success of Britain and that the same could be achieved in the healthcare sector.

This week, the Department of Health announced its latest statistics for GP extended opening hours.

It revealed that during August, 44.8 per cent of GP practices offered extended opening hours, up from 37.8 per cent in July.