Lessons from Denmark in health policy reform

From community healthcare to AI adoption, the Danish approach to healthcare delivery has quietly impacted the direction of travel in the Department of Health and Social Care.

Wes Streeting is not shy about applying international models to a UK context. Before Labour was in Government, he visited Singapore to learn from their health system. He credits this visit for the Government’s policy to bring back the family doctor, which featured heavily in Labour’s pre-election manifesto and later in the 10-Year Health Plan.

Streeting has also been drawing on Denmark’s healthcare model since at least 2023. He recently sent Health Minister Karin Smyth on a visit to Denmark to explore opportunities for the UK’s own health system, where she was shown advances in AI ultrasound technology and neighbourhood-led approaches to public health and prevention. This curiosity from Streeting has led him to describe the Danish health system as a “beacon of excellence”.

Streeting knows that excellence is what’s required if he is to shift the dial on the NHS and, as the Government shifts its attention to implementing their wide-ranging NHS reforms, Denmark and other global comparators could continue to act as a source of inspiration.

The Danish model

Both Denmark and the UK run publicly funded health systems. However, Denmark has a higher healthy life expectancy, more doctors and nurses per head, and triple the number of CT scanners per capita – all while spending less of its GDP on healthcare.

Denmark and the UK contrast in the way they approach delivery of health policy reforms. For example, Denmark has published five successive national cancer plans. First published in 2000, Denmark’s cancer plan series is iterative and, through true cross-party consensus, has endured through several changes of Government, ensuring continuity spanning 25 years. The result has been significant improvements to cancer waiting times and survival rates.

By contrast, long-term health policy in the UK rarely survives a change of Government. After the UK Government published their own cancer plan in 2000, they teased follow-up publications for years, pausing development on several occasions before announcing that a long-awaited and delayed cancer plan will now be published in the new year. Consistency and continuity are both critical to ensuring the Government’s cancer plan has the longevity to achieve its ambitions.

The Danish cancer plans aren’t the only policy document that could set an example for the UK Government. Last year the Danish Ministry of Health published Sundhed tæt på dig, or ‘Health Close to You’. Wes Streeting might recognise this as ‘Hospital to Community’ – one of the three main shifts underpinning his reform agenda. One key differentiator between UK and Danish models for a community care revolution is implementation. While the Danish plan was published alongside a dedicated implementation plan, accompanied by costings and a delivery timeline, this element was left off the UK Government’s 10-Year Health Plan, instead leaving it looking more like a ‘vision’ than a long-term strategy.

Lessons for influencing policy

Taking lessons from other comparative nations is an essential part of policymaking. The Green Book – the Treasury’s guidance for appraising policies – advises policymakers to consider international comparisons as part of the policy development process.

However, this consideration shouldn’t be confined to policymaking within Government. For those seeking to influence policy from the outside, evidence remains the most effective tool. That might mean making a strong economic case or aligning a proposal with Government priorities, but it can be just as persuasive to point to where an approach has already worked elsewhere.

Perhaps the best lesson we can take from Denmark is to build policy like LEGO: creative in design, structured in approach, built to last.