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6 - Healthcare as Social Infrastructure: Productivity and the UK National Health Service During and After COVID-19

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 November 2024

Shawna Grosskopf
Affiliation:
Oregon State University
Vivian Valdmanis
Affiliation:
Western Michigan University
Valentin Zelenyuk
Affiliation:
University of Queensland
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Summary

This chapter discusses the implications of considering the health system as part of the national social infrastructure, using the example of the demand surge experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic for the UK’s rationed, largely free at the point of need National Health Service (NHS). It explores the impact of the past prioritization of the cost efficiency of the service rather than long-term need. An infrastructure perspective incorporating resilience and peak-demand considerations sheds new light on the performance of the health service and underlines the role of healthcare systems in human capital investment and economy-wide productivity.

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The Cambridge Handbook of Healthcare
Productivity, Efficiency, Effectiveness
, pp. 160 - 184
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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