Britain must turn its back on a tax-funded NHS and embrace a European insurance-funded healthcare model, according to a leading doctor.
Bernie Ribeiro, president of the Royal College of Surgeons, said that the NHS in its current form is unsustainable and must be replaced. "We are not a poor country. We could afford our workers to make an identifiable contribution towards health care - not one hidden in National Insurance and taxation."
Ribeiro highlighted the examples of healthcare in Germany and France as templates on which a British social insurance model could be based. He also stressed that such a system would be means-tested with the poorest paying nothing.
"I think the public would be prepared to pay, it is a question of how you structure it. People value what they pay for. The NHS is not free, but people do not see the link between their money and the service," said Ribeiro.
Ribeiro's comments echo those made by Julian Stainton, chief executive at Taunton-based private medical insurer, WPA. He predicted the aging population, expensive new cancer treatments and rising obesity will neutralise the effects of increased investment in the health service.
Stainton also urged the Government "to look at healthcare in Germany and France and explore whether we could adopt those models in this country."
