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You might have seen your GP or visited an A&amp;E this year, but how well do you actually know the NHS overall? Take our quiz to find out.

How Well Do You Know The NHS?

Between 2009 and 2012 (the last year for which we have complete data), per person spending on health has fallen by an average of 0.6%. This is important because, although spending has risen overall during that time period in real terms, it's a significant slow down from the past because of austerity measures. At the same time, the UK population has grown (by about 2 million people, according to [ONS estimates](http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/pop-estimate/population-estimates-for-uk--england-and-wales--scotland-and-northern-ireland/mid-2001-to-mid-2010-revised/index.html)).

Health spending per person has fallen in real terms at 2013 prices!

Has health care spending per person across the whole of the UK risen, fallen or stayed about the same between the years of 2009-12?

Well, at least when it comes to health spending as a share of GDP. The UK has been slowly closing the gap in terms of the share of its gross domestic product (GDP) that it spends on health care, as compared to both the EU and OECD averages. In 2013, according World Bank indicators, the UK spent the equivalent of 9.4% of its economic output on health. The average among all EU member states (including the UK) in 2013 was 10.2%. And among the industrialised countries of the OECD (including the UK), the average share of GDP spent on health was a whopping 12.6%.

The UK is below average

In 2011/12, which of the following groupings spent the least on health services as a proportion of their economic output (GDP)?

The Welsh dispensed an average of 24 prescription items per person in 2013. Compare that to both England and Scotland who had about 19 prescriptions per person in the same year.  
It's also worth noting that over the last decade the number of prescription items per person is increasing slowly across all four countries.

I'm not being funny, but it's Wales

In 2013, which of the four countries of the UK prescribed the most number of items per person?

In 2013, Northern Ireland paid £197 per head on prescription drugs. That's the highest of the four countries of the UK. England, on the other hand, spent just £142 a head.   
This amount is based on how much the ingredients cost and not how much the government pays for the prescription. But did you know that the NHS in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all pay for the total cost of prescriptions, whereas in England most people have to make a contribution towards each prescription.  
It is worth noting that across all four countries, spend on prescriptions has been falling for most of the last decade.

That would be Northern Ireland

In 2013, which of the four countries of the UK spent the most per person on prescription drugs?

The most prescribed drug in both Scotland and Northern Ireland is Omeprazole, a drug that inhibits the production of stomach acid. But before you go making fun of Irish and Scottish food, we should note that the most prescribed drug in both England and Wales is Simvastatin, which helps lower blood cholesterol. Guess they could use a bit more salad down south...

Wash that Omeprazole down with some Irn Bru, it's Scotland and Northern Ireland

In which two countries of the UK was a drug to treat acid reflux, also known as heartburn, the most prescribed drug in 2013?

Over the last five years, Wales has made almost no progress in reducing the length of hospital stays. And while there has been some progress in the other countries of the UK, length of stay hasn't reduced greatly.

It's just over one week

In the 2012/13 financial year, how long was the average hospital stay in Wales?

The Scottish have managed to get their average hospital stay down to an average of 4.7 days in 2013, though it's not much down from 5.2 days five years ago. Scotland has the shortest length of average hospital stay, followed by England (5.2 days), Northern Ireland (6.4 days) and, as we've already established, Wales at 7.5 days.

It's a wee bit shorter up in Scotland, at just under 5 days

In the 2012/13 financial year, was the average hospital stay in Scotland longer, about the same, or shorter than that of Wales?

There may be far fewer overnight hospital beds today than there were in 1993, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it might mean that we've got much more efficient, which is good. The question really is if the beds are in the right places and of the right kind to meet peak periods of demand.

It's 135,000 beds

In the financial year 1993/94, there were roughly 220,000 overnight hospital beds available across the NHS in England. How many overnight beds were available in the 2013/14 financial year?

Most hotels wouldn't balk at an 85% occupancy rate, and it's probably not too bad when it comes to hospital beds.  
Having 100% occupancy certainly wouldn't be a good thing -- it would mean that there would be times of the week and places where there weren't enough beds. And indeed, there are some hospital beds, like those in surgeries, that one would expect to be empty at some times.

Hospital beds in England were about 85% occupied in 2013

Having said that, what percentage of those hospital beds across the NHS in England were actually occupied in 2013/14?

The largest single category of NHS expenditure per head is mental health. In 2012/13 the NHS spent £216.56 per head on mental disorders. That's almost twice the amount we spent on circulatory problems, which is the second largest expenditure category.

Mental disorders

For each year over the last ten years, what category of disease has the NHS in England spent the most money on per person?

Oh nos! You need to brush up on your NHS stats... stat!  
But never fear, the Nuffield Trust have produced the [NHS in Numbers](http://www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/nhs-numbers), which has all this information and more so you can swot up, pronto!

NHS novice

You've done quite well there, haven't you? You clearly know a thing or two about how the NHS works in the UK.  
But let's face it, you could have done better.  
Never fear, the Nuffield Trust have produced the [NHS in Numbers](http://www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/nhs-numbers), which has all this information and more so you can swot up, pronto!

NHS know-it-all?

You've clearly got the knowledge. So why not share it with your friends and send them to the Nuffield Trust's collection of information: [NHS in Numbers](http://www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/nhs-numbers). You might even fancy a poke around.

NHS aficionado

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How Well Do You Know The NHS?

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