The National Health Service (NHS)

to refer to the publicly-funded health care service in the

United Kingdom excluding Northern Ireland. In England the name National Health Service is used without further qualification whereas the services in Scotland and Wales are known as NHS Scotland and NHS Wales respectively. Each system operates independently, and is funded by, and politically accountable to the Scottish Government and the Welsh Assembly Government.

is accountable to the UK government. The service in Northern

Ireland was established along similar lines to the NHS in the other parts of the UK but never used the title NHS. Today it is known as Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland and is accountable to the Northern Ireland Executive.

has been bed-blockers which refers to patients who have been

declared fit for discharge but for some reason or other they are not able to return to their normal home. Often they are awaiting placement in some nursing home or other form of residential care. This strains hospital resources, through both increased costs and longer waiting times for other patients. Fines for social services departments did succeed in reducing bed-blocking, but the numbers are creeping up again.

government, care is provided by more than 400 independent regional

healthcare organizations known as Trusts. The Trusts are responsible for different services in various regions: acute Trusts, ambulance Trusts, mental health Trusts, and primary care Trusts.

venture which is funded and operated through a partnership of

government and one or more private sector companies. These schemes are sometimes referred to as PPP, P3 or P3.

and constructed by a private developer and then leased to

the hospital authority. The private developer then acts as landlord, providing housekeeping and other non medical services while the hospital itself provides medical services.

debt, many private infrastructure projects in the early 1990s involved

provision of services at substantially higher cost than could have been achieved under the standard model of public procurement. The central problem was that private investors demanded and received a rate of return that was higher than the government’s bond rate, even though most or all of the income risk associated with the project was borne by the public sector.

formal procedures for the assessment of PPPs in which the

central focus was on "value for money" rather than reductions in debt. The underlying framework was one in which value for money was achieved by an appropriate allocation of risk. These assessment procedures were incorporated in the private finance initiative and its Australian counterparts from the late 1990s onwards.

money" has been widely accepted, there have been continuing disputes

over whether the guidelines designed to achieve these goals are appropriate, and whether they have been correctly applied in particular cases. Much of the discussion has been based on debates over the UK private finance initiative.

people?
Retirement pension
Widow's pension
Maternity pay
Child benefit
Unemployment benefit
Family credit
Invalidity pension
Mobility allowance
Income support
Housing

benefit scheme

right to a pension at the age of 55 and

men at 60.
Women who leave work to have a baby have a right to ask for a maternity allowance from the government.
There are allowances paid to elderly people. Retired people can get a salary or a wage and still receive their pension in full.
A wide range of other payments exists. For example, a child allowance is a small monthly payment for each child, usually paid to mothers.
People who do not work have the right to a monthly payment, too. Scholarships are paid to young people, college and higher school students, if they do not pay fees (money) for their education.
People who are disabled can receive invalidity pension.
Widows can get payments for their husbands who died.