Katweezel said:
Yep, the Federal government in this country cannot manage anything efficiently much, let alone a government health-care system. How do the poms manage to run one in the UK, Newb?
Despite all of the critics, I think the NHS runs reasonably well. I've had several recent experiences of it (both myself and close family) and certainly haven't been given any reason to think it's falling apart at the seams as many would claim it is.
There are fundimentally two aspects I think - quality of care and quality of service, both related of course but quite separate issues. Generally, the quality of care is as good as you'll receive in any developed country on the planet. The quality of service on the other hand varies greatly from area to area, hospital to hospital and so forth. In the past I've waited in A&E for over 6 hours to have two stitches put into a cut (something that took 10 minutes). On the other hand my youngest daughter has been in hospital for a minor op, and the service was first class from the moment we walked through the hospital entrance. I'm afraid it remains a lottery, and standard of service (not care) seem to be largely down to individuals rather than any solid management framework that has been developed (although alledgedly the NHS nationally work to common standards). Without divulging how, I know that the financial management of our local Primary Care Trust (the organisations given public funding to purchase health care services for the general public) is shambolic.
Having said all of this, I prefer it to the system of healthcare provision in the States - where if you have money or insurance you can have the best available on the planet, and if you don't you have to rely on a pretty shaky public service. As an American said to me once, if you get shot and get rushed into hospital you'll get good service (provided you're the first one to get shot that night). If you suffer from a chronic illness of some sort and need to purchase regular medication, you might have to give up eating and should think about writing your will.
A sad state of affairs for the richest nation on the planet.