Choice is good - also in healthcare

One often gets to hear that yeah choice is good for those that can afford. Now this is in reality only the establishments snobby way of saying that we don’t believe that those with less money and education of cause cannot be trusted to manage their car them self.

But in reality they are quite good at it – actually much better than the establishment is in securing their healthcare. And they know it - at least if you believe the British Social Attitudes Survey 22nd Report (2005) where one can find that the group who where the most thinks that people should be allowed to choose which hospital to go to is those with semi routine and routine work. 67%. In managerial level the figure is 59%. When in the same study the population is devided on income and educational level instead you still see the same pattern.

And one do understand why it is those with less education and income that wants choice when you take a look at 2 studies published this year – one from the UK and one from Sweden. 2 of the healthcare systems in Europe where healthcare is really an issue of governmental planning limiting patient choice.

Earlier this year a report was published by SKL on how social class determinate the reception and outcome you get from Swedish healthcare. A system where you in most regions still have to go to the doctor practising closest to where you live. The report can hardly be questioned since it actually was produced by the co-operation organisation for the regions responsible for organising the Swedish healthcare. The report points out that white collar workers gets better care with more modern medication and methods compared to blue-collar workers.

And recently a retrospective study of waiting times for elective hip replacement, knee replacement and cataract repair in the UK published in BMJ by Cooper, McGuire, Jones and Le Grand points out the good effects of the changes in NHS system from 1997 to 2007. In the UK there have been quite a lot of concerns raised that the reforms of the NHS with regards to choice would lead to increased inequity but the study shows that rather the opposite have been the results. In equality between various social groups have during this time period have actually decreased. Usually you have to be a subscriber to the BMJ to read their articles but luckily this article have been deemed to be of such importance its accessible in its full text here.