Socialised medicine is something that we (or at least our government) have been very proud of.
The benefits are that we see our friends receiving modern medical treatment as needed, with almost no regard for cost. Two friends have recently had nerve grafts to recover from cancer and industrial accidents. This is high tech medicine. A german immigrant had his life saved by a UK liver transplant.
However if leads to great inefficiencies:
- Overload due to excessive expectation. Callers to the ambulance service rang to ask crew to help wrap up Christmas presents, and to request an ambulance for a fashion photo shoot because the blue lights would look good..
- Many maligerers visit doctors rather than working
- Inefficiency that seems endemic in any large government run body
- Over regulation prohibits development of alternative treatments - Mexico seems better than the UK on this.
- Excessive and politically manipulated waiting lists. Jan's radiotherapy was way later than government targets. My earlier posts list many NHS delays and manipulations.
- Political interference - we could not top up Jan's NHS teatment by paying ourselves for additional drugs without losing all NHS treatment - the government claim this is to ensure fairness! Is it fair that I cannot spend my after tax hard earned money as I want?
- It is run as a mechanised production line for statistical efficiency rather than as a caring organisation. Staff have been "removed" for offering prayer support. We pay car parking charges just to attend the hospital. Sometimes these are longer than necessary because our shambolic hospital organisation always results in long delays.
- Ambulances have been wheel clamped whilst parked at the hospital!
So I sometimes envy rich Greeks or Americans who have health insurance and choose the best hospital for each treatment as needed.
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