“The United Kingdom, located off the northwest coast of the European mainland, comprises the three nations of Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) and Northern Ireland. It has a population of around 64 million, mostly concentrated in urban areas. It is a high-income country and one of the largest economies in the European Union (EU). However, the economy was adversely affected by the global financial crisis of the late 2000s, contributing to an increase in the unemployment rate that remained at 6.1% in 2014.

“The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy, with two houses of parliament for the United Kingdom, a Scottish Parliament and National Assemblies in Wales and Northern Ireland; there is no separate administration for England. From 1997, many powers have been devolved from the central United Kingdom Government to separate administrations in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, including responsibility for health care.”

Source: Cylus J, Richardson E, Findley L, Longley M, O’Neill C, Steel D. United Kingdom: Health system review. Health Systems in Transition, 2015; 17(5): 1–125.

“HM Government consists of the Prime Minister, their Cabinet and junior ministers, supported by the teams of non-political civil servants that work in government departments.

“The Government are the people responsible for running the country. The political party that wins the most seats at a General Election takes charge of the Government for up to five years, until the next General Election.

“The leader of the winning party is appointed as Prime Minister and chooses other party members to work in the Government with them – as Cabinet ministers and junior ministers.”

“In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, devolved administrations are responsible for many domestic policy issues, and their Parliaments/Assemblies have law-making powers for those areas.

“Areas the Scottish Government, Welsh Government, and the Northern Ireland Executive are responsible for, include:

• “health
• “education
• “culture
• “the environment
• “transport”

Source: How Government Works. Gov.UK. Last accessed Sept. 22, 2022

Health Systems Facts is a project of the Real Reporting Foundation. We provide reliable statistics and other data from authoritative sources regarding health systems in the US and sixteen other nations.

Page last updated Sept. 22, 2022 by Doug McVay, Editor.