13. Medicine as a secular religion
• Hope for long life instead of eternal life
• Fear dementia instead of the Devil
• Exercise cycles and 5 a day fruit and veg
instead of prayer
• Care assistants instead of angels
• Charitable donations to cancer charities
instead of to chantries
14. The Insatiable Appetite for
Healthcare
• US predicted to spend 20% of GDP on
healthcare by 2020.
• Rate of increase double that of inflation in
recent years
• No corresponding improvement in
healthcare outcomes.
• 26% of Medicare costs incurred in the last
year of life
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37. Many reasons why
• Who is the client? And is he informed?
• Ignorance and misunderstanding
• Technological complexity
• Ideological faith in technology
• Cost and restricted space
• Size
• Economics. Private v. socialized health
care.
• Dualism
50. Economics
• Economists – markets and incentives
• In the NHS where is the incentive to build
a well-designed, sympathetic hospital?
• Why is there such a difference between
NHS and private hospitals?
• Carpets
• Curtains
• Single rooms (less risk of cross-infection
etc)