Feature

The NHS just keeps getting better and better - trust us!

Or does it? The NHS Support Federation has been keeping its own record of facts and figures about the NHS and community care - just in case government ministers really want to know how it’s going

Over £2bn per year has been redirected from patient care to the bureaucracy of the internal market since its introduction in 1991.

The NHS now employs 36,000 more managers and 27,000 fewer nurses since the introduction of the internal market.

GP fundholding practices spend £80,000 per year more on administration than non-fundholding practices.

The NHS spends £78m on cars - over half of which is for non-community staff.

Since the reforms in 1991 hospital waiting lists have grown to over 1 million.

A recent survey highlighted the fact that many trust hospitals and health authority chairs have close links with the Conservative Party. Since 1991 over 1 million patients have been deregistered by their dentists.

Dental treatment has decreased by 32 per cent since the introduction of charges for treatment.

The number of people having sight tests has halved since charges were introduced.

Prescription charges have risen 18 times since 1979, from 20p then to £5.25 in 1995.

Britain spends less on health services than any other EU country apart from Greece and Portugal.