by Newswire

John Appleby, Chief economist at the The King’s Fund and a columnist at the British Medical Journal today ripped apart claims made by Fraser Nelson at the Spectator on the NHS.

In a series of tweets he replied to and dissected each claim one by one.

@frasernelson @BBCNewsnight a poor blog i'm afraid. 'NHS stuffed full of cash'? chk out OECD comparative figs http://t.co/5kTlgcMN80 — John Appleby (@jappleby123) July 15, 2013

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.@iams101 @frasernelson shorter waiting times? increased pat/pub satisfaction? shorter LOS? more intensive use of beds? — John Appleby (@jappleby123) July 15, 2013

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.@frasernelson u mean more? eg Ireland, Holland, NZ, US. Fra, Ger etc been spending >uk for 30+ yrs. why expect 10 yrs incr = 'fixed'? — John Appleby (@jappleby123) July 15, 2013

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@frasernelson Pub £ increased more than UK 2000-2011 NZ, Holland (as %GDP). Point is how long other countries spending at higher levels — John Appleby (@jappleby123) July 15, 2013

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.@frasernelson UK 9.4% (pub+priv); OECD avg 9.3%. Not sig diff. plus, as i say, a v recent catch up to avg. benefits evident, more to come — John Appleby (@jappleby123) July 15, 2013

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.@frasernelson @jdportes Here's more up to date 2011 OECD spend figs than u ref in blog http://t.co/5kTlgcMN80 UK 9.4% (pub+priv); OECD 9.3% — John Appleby (@jappleby123) July 16, 2013

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UPDATE

Fraser Nelson adds

@sunny_hundal here's an NAO graph for you to add on the bottom if you like. pic.twitter.com/Yi7VsHQ0jX — Fraser Nelson (@frasernelson) July 16, 2013

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And gets this reply