The healthcare spending growth rate in the United Kingdom (UK) has experienced fluctuations since 1998. Then, the healthcare spending growth rate was 6.5 percent and by 2020 the healthcare spending growth was highest at 13.2 percent. 2002 saw the second highest healthcare spending growth rate at 9.9 percent. In 2023, the growth rate was 5.9 percent, a significant increase from the preceding year.Â
Health expenditure in the UK compared to Europe
In 2023, the UK spent just 10.9 percent of its GDP on healthcare. In comparison to other European countries, this ranked the UK fifth in terms of health expenditure in 2023. Top of the list was Switzerland, which spent 12 percent of its GDP on healthcare in this year.Â
Consequences from low spending growth?
The majority of surveyed individuals in the UK, regard the NHS as a world class health service and remain happy with the high level of care provided by the organization. Although waiting times have been getting worse in the A&E department over the years. The NHS has been falling behind the target that 95 percent of patients should be seen within four hours of arrival. As a result, the primary reasons for dissatisfaction with the NHS among the public are the length of time required to get a GP or hospital appointment and the lack of staff.