{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.011508951406649617, 'fraction_numerical': 0.005115089514066497, 'mean_word_length': 4.843283582089552, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
The History of NHS Charges

Health Service charges have been a feature of the National Health Service (NHS) since it was established in 1948, though they form only a small part of NHS revenue. This article looks at why they have been levied. It shows that the arguments for them primarily lie outside the NHS in foreign and defence policy and above all general management of the economy. The article suggests that the reasons given for charges do not withstand close scrutiny but they are Treasury orthodoxy. There is consistency across Conservative and Labour governments and across the decades of the NHS in the substance and language of the arguments. These arguments have wider implications for the debate between spending departments and the Treasury about economic management.