Abstract
The comments by Kamran Abbasi on the Commonwealth Fund Report ‘Mirror Mirror’ [Editorial, July] are too superficial and dismissive to go unchallenged. In fact, for the fourth time in 10 years, not the first, the NHS tops the Report for efficiency and effectiveness, in this instance compared with 10 other countries including several from Europe. There are 11 criteria covering over 80 inquiry points, far more detailed and objective than anything which would result from talking to anyone with a preconceived conclusion regarding the NHS. Moreover, unlike most of the adverse propaganda flung at the NHS since the Olympic opening ceremony, the Commonwealth Fund has no axe to grind; its concern is to give comparators for the American system – still, as ever, appalling, dangerous and expensive and offering no model for the future of the NHS that deserves serious consideration. Indeed the ‘unaffordability' of the NHS without partial privatisation is pure gobbledegook; every industrial nation faces an ageing population, complex and expensive medical demands, etc. The difference is that few, except the USA, place a higher priority on military expenditure. Our post-colonial delusions are dangerous for our health, both by preventing us from matching even average expenditure on healthcare in comparable countries, and by encouraging our leaders to periodic military adventures at huge cost to our reputation and to the military and civilian casualties which result. The Report deserves to be read in full and by the entire cabinet, indeed by every MP.