It is well-established that for a considerable period the United Kingdom has spent proportionally less of its
gross domestic product (GDP) on health-related services than almost any other comparable country. Average
European spending on health (as a % of GDP) in the period 1980 to 2013 has been 19% higher than the United
Kingdom, indicating that comparable countries give far greater fiscal priority to its health services, irrespective
of its actual fiscal value or configuration. While the UK National Health Service (NHS) is a comparatively lean
healthcare system, it is often regarded to be at a ‘crisis’ point on account of low levels of funding. Indeed, many
state that currently the NHS has a sizeable funding gap, in part due to its recently reduced GDP devoted to
health but mainly the challenges around increases in longevity, expectation and new medical costs. The right
level of health funding is a political value judgement. As the data in this paper outline, if the UK ‘afforded’ the
same proportional level of funding as the mean average European country, total expenditure would currently
increase by one-fifth