At the start of this crisis there was an expectation among economic liberals that the Coronavirus pandemic could ignite interest in international comparisons between healthcare systems. Surely people would want to know which coped best with Covid, and why?
But the perception of the NHS as a “star performer” during the crisis will only serve to entrench the misguided view that, even in normal times, the UK has nothing to learn from international best practice. Instead, the NHS is the “envy of the world” and could only be ameliorated were we to throw ever-increasing funds its way. (True, the NHS’s financial constraints are real, but without structural reform the NHS will remain an unsustainable system, characterised by waiting lists, rationing and mediocre patient outcomes.)
