Are Britons happy with their health care?

[hunter20ga]

Help! I'm an American.

We're in the midst of health care reform. One side wants government sponsored health care; the other side wants government to stay out of health care. Both sides hold up the British health care system as an example of why they feel that way. Some say Brits love their health care system; the others say you hate it.

How do you actually feel about it?

 

[billyd601]

Basically it should be the Bees Knees but there are so many issues and so much waste its hard to say, remember here we are taxed big time and a lot of that tax goes into the NHS. One thing we dont see is people die because thay have no money or healh insurance. I have two e mail friends in the USA who dont like the idea as they see it that those not paying into the sysyem will get the same care as those that do, and am sure some of the mega rich doctors are not going to like the idea. I see a lot of our health service for obvious reasons and am sure with all its faults for us its better the devil you know! I have recieved mail from the USA which are downright lies such as....when you are old you cant have heart operations. This isnt true at all and there seems to be this idea of spreading all kinds of rumours which are not true. I spoke with a nurse over there and when I told her the kind of things for the disabled here she was stunned to hear what is available.

 

[Carl V]

My father is almost 80 years old and for the last few years, has had to go into hospital several times for various reasons. He has nothing but praise for the hospital and for the staff - and this is an NHS hospital in Crewe, Cheshire. Naturally, I can only speak from my own experiences.

Much of the criticism mentioned in the press is that money is going into the wrong parts of the NHS, such as managers and other high-ranking officials instead of front-line staff - nurses, for example.

 

[Splog]

Hate it.....

 

[NorthernNikon]

Hate it.....

Only someone who has never had to live without it would say something like that.

The NHS has many faults, but the one thing which elavates it is the fact that we are all equal under it and I would hate to think that my kids would grow up in a country where anyone, no mater where they were from or what was wrong with them could get free health care.

 

[robrevens]

Only someone who has never had to live without it would say something like that.

The NHS has many faults, but the one thing which elavates it is the fact that we are all equal under it and I would hate to think that my kids would grow up in a country where anyone, no mater where they were from or what was wrong with them could get free health care.

Did you mean "could NOT get free health care."?

 

[Flash In The Pan]

Hate it.....

Would you prefer to have to pay for it? What the critics in the US forget is we have private healthcare in this country too, which is equal to, if not better than what is on offer over there.

What we don't have are people who have to choose between medication and food - it's a sad reflection on the "land of the free" that a British charity, Remote Area Medical , which was originally set up to provide medical aid to third-world countries, now carries out 60% of it's work in America, where almost a fifth of the population are too poor to afford insurance and are therefore denied what we here in the UK take for granted.

 

[welly]

Not perfect but what healthcare system is? I've had some delays in treatment in the past but overall, when I've really needed to see a doctor, there's always been one available. I've certainly got no horror stories about the NHS. It gets the thumbs up from me.

 

[billyd601]

There was a photo a couple of weeks ago taken in the usa in one of our national newspapers in what looked like a gymnasium where hundreds of people were seeing doctors dentists and chiropodists who give their time for free to help the people who cant have any medical care. The photo reminded me of how some of the third world countries have to have their care and I was shocked that it was being done in a country like the usa. It said these "days" were becoming more frequent too which is not a good reflection on one of the richest countries in the world.

 

[Flash In The Pan]

There was a photo a couple of weeks ago taken in the usa in one of our national newspapers in what looked like a gymnasium where hundreds of people were seeing doctors dentists and chiropodists who give their time for free to help the people who cant have any medical care. The photo reminded me of how some of the third world countries have to have their care and I was shocked that it was being done in a country like the usa. It said these "days" were becoming more frequent too which is not a good reflection on one of the richest countries in the world.

That was R.A.M. in action.....

 

[Splog]

Only someone who has never had to live without it would say something like that.

The NHS has many faults, but the one thing which elavates it is the fact that we are all equal under it and I would hate to think that my kids would grow up in a country where anyone, no mater where they were from or what was wrong with them could get free health care.

:shrug: What's the problem? I answered the op's question! Actually I would have used the word 'detest' given the choice..... BTW, it's not free...

Would you prefer to have to pay for it?

I already do through massive taxes and yes I do have PHC

 

[hunter20ga]

Wow! Thanks everyone for obviously candid and honest answers. So much of what we Americans hear about "socialized medicine" has been distorted to make a politician's point, that it is very difficult for a "common person" to know what to think.

Thanks, Again.

 

[Flash In The Pan]

:shrug: What's the problem? I answered the op's question! Actually I would have used the word 'detest' given the choice..... BTW, it's not free...



I already do through massive taxes and yes I do have PHC

Actually it is "free at the point of delivery" the provision of healthcare in this country isn't based on the amount of tax you pay....

 

[Splog]

Actually it is "free at the point of delivery" the provision of healthcare in this country isn't based on the amount of tax you pay....

Very true OK I'll play!... The idea of the NHS is excellent, but the reality is a joke? How many people die or are made worse each year as a result of the NHS incompetence? ( I don't really need a number !) just something to think about...

 

[Flash In The Pan]

Very true OK I'll play!... The idea of the NHS is excellent, but the reality is a joke? How many people die or are made worse each year as a result of the NHS incompetence? ( I don't really need a number !) just something to think about...

And how many more would die if there wasn't a health service? Do a bit of reading up on healthcare in the UK prior to the NHS.......

 

[whitewash]

Very true OK I'll play!... The idea of the NHS is excellent, but the reality is a joke? How many people die or are made worse each year as a result of the NHS incompetence? ( I don't really need a number !) just something to think about...

and the flipside

how many people in america die because they cant afford to see a doctor.....?


i dont think anyone is saying the NHS is perfect, but its better than nothing and as far as im concerned its better than what the americans currently have

 

[whitewash]

Would you prefer to have to pay for it? What the critics in the US forget is we have private healthcare in this country too, which is equal to, if not better than what is on offer over there.

What we don't have are people who have to choose between medication and food - it's a sad reflection on the "land of the free" that a British charity, Remote Area Medical , which was originally set up to provide medical aid to third-world countries, now carries out 60% of it's work in America, where almost a fifth of the population are too poor to afford insurance and are therefore denied what we here in the UK take for granted.

what he said ^

 

[Splog]

And how many more would die if there wasn't a health service? Do a bit of reading up on healthcare in the UK prior to the NHS.......

Don't need to as the question is about todays NHS!.... As I said, 'the idea is excellent' but the reality is a joke!

and the flipside

how many people in america die because they cant afford to see a doctor.....?

Please tell me as I also would be very interested in the answer.....

 

[russdaz]

The NHS is soo great i get charged in the way of alot in tax, as do the employeers. Yet after a car acident just over the 7 years all my treatment (medication, physio atleast 250 visits, and other treatments) but 4 physio appointments (which lasted 10minutes each and where pretty pointless as no progress was made in 6months) and one visit to a specailist and an injection (injection was pretty good) has all been paid by maybe a quarter by my employeer, the rest oh yeah from my own pocket.

Ok the Ambulance service when i needed them where right on the ball, the NHS staff i have had dealings with have been ace, but the service is underfunded, and they never take into account the fact weather your a worker or not, you could be a freeloader and get the same service, which is good in a way as in an emergancy situation your going to to get treatment. But in the above I was off work for 11months before my employeer decided to stump up some cash for some treatment, one month later i was back to work during that time i paided little tax as i werent earning enough werent spending, and wasnt entitled to any form of bennifits as i was single, with no kids, and a home owner. I had to sell before i would have been any extra help.

I also no of a person who had an acident in a different part of the country in which he lived and had treatment delayed by serveral days why the hospital he was in and his local primary care authority argued as to whos budget was going to pay for the treatment. Having the NHS doesnt garrentee the level of treatment your'l get throughout the country,

I doo know people that have had wonderfully fast treatment free, funnily enough most of those have been 'freeloaders' and by the term freeloaders i am refering to some people i know that simply have no intention of ever working, i know theres people that have genuine reasons for not working have no issues with it.

I still put private health care plans pretty highly now,

 

[whitewash]

well you posed a question which you couldnt back up with numbers so both myself and flash posed the same sort of question back at you..........

when i went to america i was shocked that their were people on the streets that couldn't afford healthcare, the reality being that they got ill (whilst working low wage jobs), they then couldn't perform their duties and got sacked, couldnt afford to pay the rent so ended up on the street. the NHS doesnt do that, it treats one and all equally (unless they want private healthcare which they can pay for) it catches everyone so everyone is entitled to healthcare.


in my experience the NHS has been excellent, i know its not perfect but (as i said earlier) its better than the alternative)

 

[Flash In The Pan]

Don't need to as the question is about todays NHS!.... As I said, 'the idea is excellent' but the reality is a joke!

So...what you want is all the frills of private healthcare, but without the need to pay for it? The current state of the NHS has a lot to do with it's history and the cutbacks and privatisation foisted upon it in the '80s. Those cutbacks were brought in to allow for tax cuts, you can't have it both ways

 

[bindex]

It's not perfect, but it's always there when you really need it. There's NEVER any worry about going to see a doctor because you just can't afford it. If you have an accident and end up at hospital, there's no danger that they'll turn you away just because you don't have health insurance.

It may very well not be free, and yes we all pay taxes to fund it. But I've never heard of anyone being bankrupted by the NHS because they can't pay a hospital bill.

 

[Flash In The Pan]

World Healthcare Rankings (2007)
(source: WHO)

1 France
2 Italy
3 San Marino
4 Andorra
5 Malta
6 Singapore
7 Spain
8 Oman
9 Austria
10 Japan
11 Norway
12 Portugal
13 Monaco
14 Greece
15 Iceland
16 Luxembourg
17 Netherlands
18 United Kingdom
19 Ireland
20 Switzerland
21 Belgium
22 Colombia
23 Sweden
24 Cyprus
25 Germany
26 Saudi Arabia
27 United Arab Emirates
28 Israel
29 Morocco
30 Canada
31 Finland
32 Australia
33 Chile
34 Denmark
35 Dominica
36 Costa Rica
37 United States of America
38 Slovenia
39 Cuba
40 Brunei
41 New Zealand
42 Bahrain
43 Croatia
44 Qatar
45 Kuwait
46 Barbados
47 Thailand
48 Czech Republic
49 Malaysia
50 Poland
51 Dominican Republic
52 Tunisia
53 Jamaica
54 Venezuela
55 Albania
56 Seychelles
57 Paraguay
58 South Korea
59 Senegal
60 Philippines
61 Mexico
62 Slovakia
63 Egypt
64 Kazakhstan
65 Uruguay
66 Hungary
67 Trinidad and Tobago
68 Saint Lucia
69 Belize
70 Turkey
71 Nicaragua
72 Belarus
73 Lithuania
74 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
75 Argentina
76 Sri Lanka
77 Estonia
78 Guatemala
79 Ukraine
80 Solomon Islands
81 Algeria
82 Palau
83 Jordan
84 Mauritius
85 Grenada
86 Antigua and Barbuda
87 Libya
88 Bangladesh
89 Macedonia
90 Bosnia-Herzegovina
91 Lebanon
92 Indonesia
93 Iran
94 Bahamas
95 Panama
96 Fiji
97 Benin
98 Nauru
99 Romania
100 Saint Kitts and Nevis
101 Moldova
102 Bulgaria
103 Iraq
104 Armenia
105 Latvia
106 Yugoslavia
107 Cook Islands
108 Syria
109 Azerbaijan
110 Suriname
111 Ecuador
112 India
113 Cape Verde
114 Georgia
115 El Salvador
116 Tonga
117 Uzbekistan
118 Comoros
119 Samoa
120 Yemen
121 Niue
122 Pakistan
123 Micronesia
124 Bhutan
125 Brazil
126 Bolivia
127 Vanuatu
128 Guyana
129 Peru
130 Russia
131 Honduras
132 Burkina Faso
133 Sao Tome and Principe
134 Sudan
135 Ghana
136 Tuvalu
137 Ivory Coast
138 Haiti
139 Gabon
140 Kenya
141 Marshall Islands
142 Kiribati
143 Burundi
144 China
145 Mongolia
146 Gambia
147 Maldives
148 Papua New Guinea
149 Uganda
150 Nepal
151 Kyrgystan
152 Togo
153 Turkmenistan
154 Tajikistan
155 Zimbabwe
156 Tanzania
157 Djibouti
158 Eritrea
159 Madagascar
160 Vietnam
161 Guinea
162 Mauritania
163 Mali
164 Cameroon
165 Laos
166 Congo
167 North Korea
168 Namibia
169 Botswana
170 Niger
171 Equatorial Guinea
172 Rwanda
173 Afghanistan
174 Cambodia
175 South Africa
176 Guinea-Bissau
177 Swaziland
178 Chad
179 Somalia
180 Ethiopia
181 Angola
182 Zambia
183 Lesotho
184 Mozambique
185 Malawi
186 Liberia
187 Nigeria
188 Democratic Republic of the Congo
189 Central African Republic
190 Myanmar


Preventable Deaths (Deaths per 100,000 Population 2002-2003)
(source: WHO)

UK 103
USA 110

 

[Defiance]

I have always found the NHS and the front-line staff superb.

What we get is a function of what we pay in taxes. If you want to pay more tax then you will get even better care, but I don't hear many wanting to pay more taxes. Equally, if you consider the number of people handled by the NHS every day, the number of complaints that we hear about are relatively low and probably not much different for any high volume public service.

If you want more or better, then you still have the option of private healthcare - at least in the UK we get a choice and always have access to medical treatment when needed.

Today we have a service where if you have a heart attack, you dial 999, a paramedic is with you in less than 10 minutes, an ambulance then follows to take you to hospital, you receive treatment straight away in hospital and hopefully survive. Imagine if it's you having the heart attack and then not having the right insurance and then having to rely on a collective of independent providers to deliver you to hospital and treat you only if you pay. Yes the NHS is not perfect, but it's a lot lot better than not having it.

 

[Splog]

well you posed a question which you couldnt back up with numbers so both myself and flash posed the same sort of question back at you..........

No I didn't ! ...I made a statement in the form of a question intended to make you think about the actual state of the current NHS! BTW the number would be in the 10,000's.... but can'y be arsed to look it up...:|

in my experience the NHS has been excellent, i know its not perfect but (as i said earlier) its better than the alternative)

What alternative do you refer to? and do you have experience of 'said alternative'

So...what you want is all the frills of private healthcare, but without the need to pay for it? The current state of the NHS has a lot to do with it's history and the cutbacks and privatisation foisted upon it in the '80s. Those cutbacks were brought in to allow for tax cuts, you can't have it both ways

I haven't mentioned frills of any kind :shrug: and as I said earlier I already do pay for it.. Care to enlighten me when spending on the NHS was reduced... or perhaps just exactly when we had tax cuts?...

 

[Gary]

us brits like to complain about everything (normally without doing anything about it).. So we moan about the NHS, but i think 99% of people wouldnt want it replaced with a US style system.

I certainly wouldnt want to live in a country without a similar system.

 

[heidfirst]

my family (parents, mine, sister's family) experience has been very good.
Yes, you may have to wait a little if you have less serious ailments but that's because more serious cases get prioritised.

I suspect that the ideal (though there will be no perfect) is probably somewhere between the 2 systems but I can't imagine anybody not wanting it to be there as a safety net.

 

[Splog]

It's not perfect, but it's always there when you really need it. There's NEVER any worry about going to see a doctor because you just can't afford it. If you have an accident and end up at hospital, there's no danger that they'll turn you away just because you don't have health insurance.

It may very well not be free, and yes we all pay taxes to fund it. But I've never heard of anyone being bankrupted by the NHS because they can't pay a hospital bill.

Neither have I, but a friend of mine had an accident (industrial) and she had to pay over £11,000 to the NHS and of course she received the care she needed immediately after the accident! but the NHS wouldn't continue treatment and she had to go private and pay out again!

 

[Splog]

On the radio today they quoted a survey which said 2% of patients had received Cruel or abused at the hands of NHS staff and that 43% (about) were happy and received good treatment!.... So that's about 57% that weren't happy....

BTW... I have not used the NHS (or other service in 30 + years) so I do not speak from personal experience, only from others experiences that I have had to deal with!

 

[Flash In The Pan]

I haven't mentioned frills of any kind :shrug: and as I said earlier I already do pay for it..

By "frills" I mean not having to wait to be seen by a doctor, or having an private room in hospital.

Care to enlighten me when spending on the NHS was reduced... or perhaps just exactly when we had tax cuts?...

I already did - the 1980s. The Conservatives, first under Heath, but most notably under Thatcher, cut public spending including healthcare, to the bone, in order to offer income tax cuts, resulting in the health service we have today.

When New Labour came to power 1997 one of their election pledges was to right the wrongs in the NHS that had come about under Tory control, but for the most these "improvements" have been purely down to a "smoke and mirrors" approach to statistics.

Immigration and "health tourism" have also placed a strain on the NHS, but that isn't the fault of our healthcare system......

 

[Flash In The Pan]

I have not used the NHS (or other service in 30 + years) so I do not speak from personal experience, only from others experiences that I have had to deal with!

So it's very much like the Jessops thing - you rarely hear of anyone praising them, only when they've had bad service.......

 

[Gary]

On the radio today they quoted a survey which said 2% of patients had received Cruel or abused at the hands of NHS staff and that 43% (about) were happy and received good treatment!.... So that's about 57% that weren't happy....

No, thats 57% of people that didnt say they were happy or abused. (or 55% if i'm being pedantic)

 

[heidfirst]

there's also an ageing population (typically healthcare costs are higher towards the end of life) plus simply the increase in treatments available e.g. MRIs, the no. of joint replacements done these days is tremendous but unavailable/unthought of when the NHS was devised etc. etc..

 

[bindex]

Neither have I, but a friend of mine had an accident (industrial) and she had to pay over £11,000 to the NHS and of course she received the care she needed immediately after the accident! but the NHS wouldn't continue treatment and she had to go private and pay out again!

I suppose this comes under my earlier comment about the NHS not being perfect. I realised that they can charge for road traffic accidents but didn't know this applied to industrial accidents too. Personally I really don't agree with it at all. You pay taxes for the NHS... you should get ALL the treatment you need from it too. There's been a regrettable but almost insidious watering down of the service by various governments since it's inception. But I'd still argue that it's better than the system that they have in the USA.

 

[Splog]

By "frills" I mean not having to wait to be seen by a doctor, or having an private room in hospital.




I already did - the 1980s. The Conservatives, first under Heath, but most notably under Thatcher, cut public spending including healthcare, to the bone, in order to offer income tax cuts, resulting in the health service we have today.

When New Labour came to power 1997 one of their election pledges was to right the wrongs in the NHS that had come about under Tory control, but for the most these "improvements" have been purely down to a "smoke and mirrors" approach to statistics.

Immigration and "health tourism" have also placed a strain on the NHS, but that isn't the fault of our healthcare system......

Okay, I won't disagree here (too much )! but will say that the OP is asking about the present health care system and as you correctly say or imply ? politicians have screwed the system for whatever political reasons they choose? The NHS has serious problems that are basically smoke screened from the public through manipulation of numbers and statistics!

Immigration and health tourism isanother indicator of a system that doesn't work...

 

[Splog]

So it's very much like the Jessops thing - you rarely hear of anyone praising them, only when they've had bad service.......

No it's not... I refer to my experience of dealing with others and it is 100% bad service at the point of service, not hearsay it's fact!

 

[Flash In The Pan]

No it's not... I refer to my experience of dealing with others and it is 100% bad service at the point of service, not hearsay it's fact!

So, you're saying that everyone you've dealt with (you haven't said in what cappacity) has received poor service from the NHS? Sorry, but I find that somewhat hard to believe.....

 

[Splog]

No, thats 57% of people that didnt say they were happy or abused. (or 55% if i'm being pedantic)

What!...2% reported being abused!!!!!! , 43% said they were happy means 55% +2% =57% received service that didn't merit a comment of being happy with the service or were actually abused by the staff! The question put to them was "were they happy with the way they were treated by NHS staff" :shrug:

So put it another way.... The majority weren't !

 

[Flash In The Pan]

What!...2% reported being abused!!!!!! , 43% said they were happy means 55% +2% =57% received service that didn't merit a comment of being happy with the service or were actually abused by the staff! The question put to them was "were they happy with the way they were treated by NHS staff" :shrug:

So put it another way.... The majority weren't !

Do you have a link to this study?

 

[mikeward]

personally i think the NHS should be a pay as you go scheme. I not been into a hospital for treatment for the last 25 years (roughly) and could have saved alot on tax if the goverment wasnt having to fund treatment for people that are just looking for an excuse to not work.

In america the only people that seem to think the service isnt good is the ones without insurance and they are mainly the bumbs that sit around doing nothing then expect the rest of the country pay for them when they get hurt.