All the "international" nurses are fully qualified. They aren't students or trainees. They have to undergo a few months of adaptation before they get their PIN and can practise alone. I am not aware of the current numbers, or the breakdown between the various sources, but have some direct knowledge of one of the primary ones, which is the Philippines. We now recruit many nurses from there. All have to spend a huge amount of money on being trained for 5 years, with their families often incurring enormous debt to do so, in the expectation it will all be repaid by remittances once they get a job. They have to take their Board exams in Hong Kong as their own education system isn't trusted internationally. Their route to us is often via the Middle East and their hoped for final destination the USA. You will often only be aware of them if you have to go to hospital as they work very long hours in order to send money home, and have little time for socialising.

For the avoidance of doubt any comments in response to a previous post are directed to its ideas and not at any, or all, posters personally.

The 40% isn't of all taxpayer spending, the 40% figure is for government day to day spending but not all government spending. The day to day departmental spending is the budget for schools, hospitals, policing defense etc. and doesn’t include all the money the government spend pensions welfare etc. Just over half the of all money raised in taxes is accounted for by day to day spending and this include the spending on capital projects like building hospitals or roads. Explained in more detail here [Link] The increase is largely to clear covid backlog and pay for social care.
As a proportion of the GDP health spending has risen from 3% in 1958-59 to 7% now Table 1 here here [Link] . Which has doubled but then life expectancy has increased from 70 in 1960 to 81 in 2015, which has brought additional costs [Link]
In terms of health care spend we are pretty middle of the table for OECD countries [Link] so we don’t pay more than other developed countries particularly and we pay less then half what they pay in health care in the U.S . The relevant question is do we get a good service, International comparison of outcomes can be difficult because the methodology would need to take into account the circumstances and culture of the country so you can take this with a pinch of salt, especially as I’m not going to spend my Saturday drawing up a pro and cons of all methodologies . Uk is ranked 7th here [Link] and 16th here [Link] so probably not bad for the money we pay out.
The Defence figure you use is 2.2% of GDP , not 2.2% of Tax revenue or day to day Government spending. Tax revenue is about £800bn and Defence spending is £40bn so 5% of all tax revenue and 9%-10% of all day to day spending. Essential confusing the 2.2% and 40% is to confuse the overall income in household terms it is similar to comparing gross income and disposable income.

One supporter of hacking argued that without it "you will do away with the courage and pluck of the game, and I will be bound to bring over a lot of Frenchmen who would beat you with a week's practice -Blackheath secretary at first meeting of the F.A

‘I will die free’: Unvaccinated Burke County man denied kidney transplant by hospital - [Link]

Another myth muncher who's lost the plot and makes health assessments and choices geared towards shuffling off this mortal coil. Ironic that the bloke think its all about 'ma freedom' when he's actually been brainwashed into pointlessly signing his own death warrant. Being offered a transplant is a privilege, and due to the required immunosuppressant drugs its not much to ask that he appreciates that and takes very minimal efforts to maximise a positive outcome. Though of course, if he won't someone else will.

Edited by BlueJay (30 Jan 2022 10.08am)

To my mind, still nudging towards the above [Link]

Will soon see.

Edited by BlueJay (31 Jan 2022 8.49am)

Personally I regard your figures as little more than statistical manipulation. The reality is that the current spending pathway is unrealistic versus an aging population and automation is badly needed.

Regardless of that you can take your sneering attitude where the sun don't shine.

Edited by Stirlingsays (31 Jan 2022 8.59am)

'Who are you and how did you get in here? I'm a locksmith. And, I'm a locksmith.' (Leslie Nielsen)

I tip my hat and I fully concur.

'Who are you and how did you get in here? I'm a locksmith. And, I'm a locksmith.' (Leslie Nielsen)