This is the recording of Sacred Cows' second event in London on the 24th June 2024. Talk description below:

In surveys which ask people what makes them most proud to be British, the NHS always consistently comes out as the top response, and by a very large margin. Even progressives, who would normally find patriotism cringeworthy, suddenly become flag-waving nationalists when you make Britishness about the NHS.

Dr Kristian Niemietz, Editorial Director at the Institute of Economic Affairs and author of the book "Universal Healthcare Without the NHS", sees NHS worship as a bizarre, irrational cult. He argues that there is nothing the NHS has achieved which dozens of other healthcare systems have not also achieved, and often better. He sees the NHS as a mediocre-to-poor healthcare system which trails behind most of its peers, and which is completely undeserving of the adulation it receives. He also argues that NHS worship is not just a harmless national eccentricity, but an active deterrent to achieving better health outcomes.