By Martin Banks - 30th September 2007
Austria has Europe’s most consumer-friendly healthcare system, according to a major new study published today.
The report's authors say there is a small group of countries that compete for pre-eminence in excellence, separated only by minor differences.
These are followed by a middle group of “adequate” performers and rapid improvers, with a rump of under-achievers.
“But no country in the index achieves more than 80 per cent of their potential and all remain in need of reform,” said the Health Consumer Powerhouse (HCP), which conducted the survey.
Now in its third year, HCP, a leading European provider of consumer information on healthcare, compares healthcare systems across Europe.
Austria came top of the 29-country index, with the 2005 winners, Netherlands, in second place.
Last year’s winners, France, slipped to third place, Germany are fifth, the UK 17th while Spain and Italy are 14th and 18th respectively. Latvia is bottom of the ‘league table’.
“We note a general improvement in healthcare user-friendliness," said HCP president Johan Hjertqvist.
“However, much work remains to be done, nowhere more so than in providing the information that consumers need to make informed choice”.
He said there are also “beacons of hope”, since those countries that have put in place reforms, such as Austria, are now amongst the best performers.
Hjertqvist pointed to Estonia as an example, saying, “their commitment to reform has allowed them to outperform many better-funded services and place them far ahead of all other member states".
In the report, the group, based in Sweden, said Austria leads the EU on overall cancer survival rates. Its only criticism was that the country has a “slightly autocratic attitude” to patient empowerment.
The UK’s performance, it said, was “mediocre”, adding, “The UK is good on heart problems and the star performer on healthcare information.
“But the NHS shares some fundamental problems with other centrally planned healthcare systems, such as Sweden."
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