Re-designing Services Offered by NHS UK Assignment

Re-designing Services Offered by NHS UK - Assignment Example The authorities have to establish better performance evaluation systems and ensure that their facilities are delivering world class services like their neighboring countries. Established on 5th July 1948, NHS is now one of the largest public health care service in the world (Hawe, 2008). The UK authorities established the NHS to provide the residents with equal access to treatment. NHS aims to provide clinical help to patients regardless of their ability to pay for the medical expenses. The organization is funded through national taxation and this ensures that NHS is able to provide care to people who are not able to afford it with personal means (Dept. of Health Staff, 2004). This report will now conduct a SWOT analysis of NHS UK. This analysis is expected to present more clearly the current situation of this organization, show its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The government has increased the investment in NHS UK. While the organization only had 33 billion in 1996/1997 to spend, it now has around 67.4 billion in funds for its needs. NHS has also seen an increase in spending on buildings and equipment and now has 3.4 billion for investment in the infrastructure. This surplus has allowed the organization to have more modern equipment and facilities and take better care of its patients. NHS has also decided to have more staff on board and thus it has begun to steadily increase the number of doctors, nurses and attendants (Dept. of Health Staff, 2004). These figures indicate that the organization has the attention of the authorities, and the government is trying to pull it up by putting more money for its sustenance and future growth. The funds available to NHS have increased considerable over the last decade, and the authorities now have the money to improve their infrastructure. By purchasing modern equipment, NHS can dramatically improve its quality of services and gain appreciation from the patients in the UK. In addition, NHS has more staff at its disposal and thus they have more hands to provide services to their community. Weaknesses Even though the authorities are making several efforts to improve the quality and accessibility of NHS, the organization is often accused of low standard in health care. A report indicates that in comparison to other European countries, the patients' survival rates were very low in NHS. This reason for this low rate was due to poor organization of services. NHS has very long outpatient and elective surgery waiting times and need to have more focus on areas such as cancer and heart disease (Scambler, 2003). Apparently NHS is not improving despite the amount of money it is receiving from the government. The residents of UK are not happy with the quality of services and are still complaining about the low standard in health care. The patients are comparing the services available to them with those of health care services provided to residents in other European countries. NHS needs better organization of services where the patients don't have to wait for a very long time for surgeries. Also, NHS has to ensure that