The cost of the nhs
The entire system is free, with the exception of prescribed drugs, dental treatment and spectacles, for which there are standard charges, except for old pensioners and children under 16 and some other categories for whom some of these items are free. Anyone entering hospital for surgery will receive all their treatment while in hospital, including drugs, free of charge. Over 80 per cent of the costs of the NHS are funded out of the income system. The balance is paid for out of National Insurance contributions and from the prescription charges mentioned above.
The cost of providing the service has always been enormous. By the late 1980s, the health budget reached one fifth of all public spending. Sixty-six per cent of this budget provides hospital and community services, while 30 per cent funds family practitioner cervices, the GPs, dentists and pharmacists. There has always been little flexibility for reformers, since over 70 per cent of the budget goes on staff costs.
XV. Read and translate the text and speak on achievements of British NHS.
It is a well known fact that the NHS has been described as one of the greatest social achievements of the 20th century with its promise to care for the British people from cradle to grave.
Broadly speaking the system has worked extremely well. Foreign health economists tend to admire the NHS for its family doctor system and its tight cost control. The greatest asset of this system is that it provides treatment for all, regardless of the ability to pay. It covers not only all British people, but also overseas visitors who become ill while traveling round the UK. Finally, foreigners admire its tax-based funding, relating the service to income rather than to need and relative efficiency - a characteristic that would probably surprise the patients in most British hospital waiting rooms. Foreign experts also criticize the lack of consumer choice, and believe that British doctors delegate more tasks for nurses and more tasks to orderlies. But on the whole this system has been the envy of many countries with less satisfactory systems.
Unit II Health service in Russia
I. Warm up
What can you say about Health Service in Russia?
II. Don’t miss the chance to enrich your vocabulary. Read and learn the following words and word combinations:
to pay attention to – обратить внимание на что-либо
in the fight against – в борьбе против
to believe – зд. думать, полагать
a purpose – цель
adult population – взрослое население
to be equipped – быть оборудованным
to concentrate an effort on – сосредоточить (концентрировать) усилие на
female – женский
to ensure – обеспечивать, гарантировать
viral – вирусный
III. Read and guess what the following words mean:
Service, prophylaxis, method, radio, polyclinic, consultation, diagnostic, anaesthetic, electrotherapeutic, apparatus, infection, ophthalmological, gynecology, physiology, oncological, gerontology, genetics, immunology.
IV. Read the text and translate it into Russian.