Acknowledgements
The HiT on the United Kingdom was produced by the European
Observatory on Health Systems and Policies.
This edition was compiled by Jonathan Cylus (European Observatory
on Health Systems and Policies), Erica Richardson (European Observatory
on Health Systems and Policies), Lisa Findley (Freelance), Marcus Longley
(University of South Wales), Ciaran O’Neill (NUI Galway) and David Steel
(University of Aberdeen). The basis for this edition was the previously published
HiTs for England (2011) written by Sean Boyle; Scotland (2012) written by
David Steel and Jonathan Cylus; Wales (2012) written by Marcus Longley, Neil
Riley, Paul Davies and Cristina Hernández-Quevedo; and Northern Ireland
(2012) written by Ciaran O’Neill, Pat McGregor and Sherry Merkur.
The Observatory and the authors are extremely grateful to Sean Boyle (LSE)
and Gwyn Bevan (LSE) as well as Catherine Foot, Beccy Baird and Sarah
Gregory (King’s Fund) for reviewing the report. The authors would also like to
thank Nick Fahy for his technical assistance in reviewing the text and for his
reworking of the executive summary. Special thanks go also to everyone at the
Department of Health and its agencies for their assistance and support.
Thanks are also extended to the WHO Regional Office for Europe for their
European Health for All database from which data on health services were
extracted; to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
(OECD) for the data on health services in western Europe; and to the World Bank
for the data on health expenditure in central and eastern European countries.
Thanks are also due to national statistical offices that have provided data. The
HiT reflects data available in September 2015, unless otherwise indicated.
The European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies is a partnership,
hosted by the WHO Regional Office for Europe, which includes the
Governments of Austria, Belgium, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway,
viii Health systems in transition United Kingdom
Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the Veneto Region of Italy;
the European Commission; the European Investment Bank; the World Bank;
UNCAM (French National Union of Health Insurance Funds); the London
School of Economics and Political Science; and the London School of Hygiene
& Tropical Medicine.
The Observatory team working on HiTs is led by Josep Figueras, Director,
Elias Mossialos, Martin McKee, Reinhard Busse, Richard Saltman, Ellen Nolte
and Suszy Lessof. The Country Monitoring Programme of the Observatory
and the HiT series are coordinated by Gabriele Pastorino. The production and
copy-editing process of this HiT was coordinated by Jonathan North, with the
support of Caroline White, Sarah Cook (copy-editing) and Steve Still (design
and layout)