Professor Donald Berwick is a Professor of Paediatrics at the Harvard Medical School, Professor of Health Policy
and Management at the Harvard School of Public Health, and CEO of the Institute
for Healthcare Improvement. In July 2010, Professor Berwick was appointed
by President Obama as head of Medicare and Medicaid but resigned
at the height of the Obama healthcare reforms debate when it became clear that
Republicans would block his appointment. Last week
David Cameron appointed him to turn the NHS into the safest healthcare system
in the world (in the wake of the Francis report). In his first interview as
Cameron’s ‘Health Tsar’ with a newspaper, the Telegraph ran
the title: “My Cure for the Sick NHS” (1).
Many of us will therefore be relieved to know that
Professor Berwick is in fact a great supporter of the NHS. In the US, he has
been denigrated by the Republican press for praising the NHS and wanting to
move the US away from its traditional fee-for-service medicine. In a keynote lecture at the NHS Live Conference (July 2008) celebrating the 60th birthday of the NHS, the
following were just a few examples of his praise (2):
1. “The NHS is one of
the most astounding human endeavours of modern times”
2. “The UK promises to make healthcare a human right. The US does not promise healthcare as a human right and people
ask, “How can healthcare be a human right? We can’t afford it.” As a result,
almost 50 million Americans, one in seven, do not have health insurance. Here
(in the UK), we make it harder for ourselves, because we don’t make that
excuse. We cap our healthcare budget, and we make the political and economic
choices we need to make to keep affordability within reach. And, we leave no
one out.”
3. “In the US, we can hold no one accountable
for our problems. Here, in England, accountability for the NHS is
clear.”
4. “In the US, we fund healthcare through
hundreds of insurance companies, a zoo of payment streams. Administrative
costs approach 20% of US total healthcare bill, at least three times as much as
in England.”
For a video excerpt, see here.
Professor Donald Berwick is a friend of the NHS. By appointing him, David Cameron may in fact help steer the NHS out of the choppy waters we find ourselves in. Professor Berwick, we welcome you to the UK and look forward to your support and guidance in making the NHS even safer.
Professor Donald Berwick is a friend of the NHS. By appointing him, David Cameron may in fact help steer the NHS out of the choppy waters we find ourselves in. Professor Berwick, we welcome you to the UK and look forward to your support and guidance in making the NHS even safer.
