The Cult of the UK’s National Health Service

One month ago The Guardian ran a story Exposing the fact that Rishi Sunak, British Prime Minister, received private healthcare. Sunak faced online backlash for resorting to the market instead of relying on the UK’s National Health Service (NHS).

It may seem absurd to an outsider that the British public would be so upset over such a personal decision. It’s his money after all. What happens next? What next?

The British left used this story to make political points about how out of touch Sunak was with the British public due to his wealth. British politics have embraced the National Health Service, which has been called “The National Health Service”. “the closest thing to a state religion.” It is therefore politically scandalous that the prime minster does not rely on the NHS.

Dr. John Puntis is co-chairman of Keep Our NHS Public and spoke on the subject: “It should be no surprise that Rishi Sunak has private medical care arrangements; this will be the norm for many of the rich and powerful … those making decisions about vital public services are often least likely to use them, which of course reinforces their ideological animosity.”

While it is true that out of touch politicians shouldn’t decide on healthcare, Dr. Puntis and other NHS fanatics prescribe the wrong antidote. Rishi Sunak doesn’t have control over his own healthcare. The problem is that he has the power to limit other people’s choices on Their healthcare.

The UK’s National Health Service holds a near monopoly over healthcare. This is why the UK’s vast majority of citizens rely on it. The standard excuse—that the NHS is performing badly because it is underfunded—does not hold up. The NHS has received a large increase in funding every year: by 2023 Britons will be spending £175 billion on the NHS which will be a 50% real term spending increase since 2009.

Despite the increase in funding, the NHS still fails those who are made to depend on the NHS. More than 7 million people are currently on the NHS waiting list and more than 30,000 patients wait longer than 12 hours in emergency rooms every month. This is a recent article by The Daily Mail reported After suffering a fracture to her hip, a 93 year-old woman was left on the ground for 25 hours. Is it any wonder then that the NHS is failing so many people, why isn’t everyone able to get healthcare elsewhere?

If people in the NHS cult truly care about quality services, they should push for more choices and not make people pay more. Even for the most vulnerable, what’s the point of the NHS being free at the point of use when the endless waiting lists mean that no one can use it?

Rishi Sunak being shamed for using private healthcare is an example of how socialists are determined to make the rich suffer, even though it results in the poor also suffering. Margaret Thatcher, British Prime Minister: “So long as the gap is smaller, they’d rather have the poor poorer.”