Forget privatisation. Keeping people in blooming health is the creative answer to the NHS crisis, says former chief medical officer, Harry Burns

Enjoying

In 1948, the World Health Organization defined health as “a state of complete physical mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”.

This seems to have fallen on deaf ears. The UK National Health System, and that of every other health service in the developed world, is based on ensuring an absence of disease or infirmity and comparatively little is spent on helping people achieve a complete state of well-being.

Yes, the country has effective immunisation programmes and screens for some diseases. But it also spends money on over-40s health checks, and there is …