The NHS performs worse than most developed countries in saving lives from many of the most common diseases, an international study shows.

The research by four think tanks shows Britain is the third worst of 18 western countries at preventing avoidable deaths.

And it also fared worse than average in the treatment of eight out of the 12 most common causes of death, including deaths within 30 days of having a heart attack and within five years of being diagnosed with breast cancer, rectal cancer, colon cancer, pancreatic cancer and lung cancer.

Death rates for newborns are also consistently higher than elsewhere, the study shows, with seven in 1,000 babies dying at birth or in the week afterwards in the UK in 2016, compared to an average of 5.5 across the comparator countries.

The report’s authors said the research showed that claims the NHS “is the envy of the world” were exaggerated. So too were claims it was wholly inferior to other systems, they said.

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