NHS in the United Kingdom: Leeds

NHS in the United Kingdom: Leeds
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Introduction
Since the establishment of the National Health Service (NHS), in 1948 there have been various changes in the health systems of the individual systems of the HHS in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The NHS is funded through taxation, and throughout the years, the aim has been to improve accessibility to health care services while also ensuring that there is comprehensive coverage of health as well as rehabilitation, prevention and curing diseases (Davies & NHS Confederation, 2007). As such, the idea behind the establishment of the NHS was based on the notions of the welfare state. Over time, health care services have been devolved in the four countries of the UK. This paper focuses on the NHS in the UK specifically Leeds and structure of the NHS.
NHS in the UK
Even though, the NHS is publicly funded, there is interest and uptake of private health insurance. Employers have the option of providing health care insurance coverage, but employees can also choose to receive medical treatments from private health care arrangements only. In such a case, private patients have the option of choosing their specialists unlike NHS patients who only choose hospitals, but are limited on the choice of specialists depending on the circumstances (Harrell, 2009). At the moment, the NHS services are affordable and cover UK residents, but interest on privatization has mostly focused on improving the efficiency of the UK health care system.
The importance of the NHS has been highlighted by rankings of the UK health care system whereby, an increase in life expectancy and reduction in infant mortality emphasize on the benefits of having an efficient health care system. According to Disabled-world.com (n.d.), in order to improve service delivery the NHS has highlighted the need to identify the needs and preferences of patients and that of carers and family members. Funding is geared towards dealing with the identified needs of the population while also improving accessibility of these services (Disabled world, n.d.). In any case, all patients are to be treated with dignity and respect while health care practitioners exercise the duty of care to reduce medical errors.
Structure of the NHS
Since the 1st of April 2013, the NHS in England has undergone gradual changes meant to improve service provision and efficiency of the organization. Nonetheless, these changes do no affect accessibility to services and front-line services in various locations. The ideal that quality health care ought to be available to all persons is still a core theme in the NHS, even after implementation of changes. At the same time, the services are meant to be free for UK residents for most services except some specialist services, optical care, dental care, and prescriptions. Despite being one of the largest employers in the country, the NHS is intent on good health care access without overburdening taxpayers and the patients
NHS in Leeds
In Leeds, the Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) are organizations that bring together GPs and nurses to facilitate health care service p...