First of all, as I've pointed out elsewhere, I have relatives and friends and family who live and who have lived in the UK. I also have clients over there who are currently involved with the NHS, the details of their experiences which I am privy to.
I personally do not have direct experience with the NHS. Unfortunately, I have a great deal of experience with the US System. If I'm going to get sick (and I am, I have chronic, long term health problems, and daily medication expenses which keep me alive...) trust me, I'd rather be sick in the UK any damn day of the week.
Now, having said all that... I firmly believe that there are real concerns about the NHS, and the writer of the above referenced op-ed certainly has the background and the right to hold her own opinions and to publish them. My concern, though, is that what she's doing, inadvertantly or no, is advancing the meme that "Universal health care is broken..." and that we should NOT look to the UK as a "model..." ...and that concerns me.
When was the last time you heard of someone dying on the floor of a UK hospital as medical staff stepped around them and patients call 911 in horror, trying to help? uh, never.
But I digress.. this writer, Helen Evans, is not only publishing these opinions but is giving speeches over here to the same end. See the "Nurses for Reform" blog here. http://nursesforreform.wordpress.com/ I hate to give her/them any more attention, but it's important that we stay vigilant about the things that are being said about health care, if we want to advance changes. and, I think it's pretty clear that we DO. The conservopods, though, are going to embrace this group with open arms and use them to advance THEIR agenda that we just can't have universal health care because it "doesn't work."
I beg to differ, as would, I think, my UK friends, family members, and so forth. Though those same people would be quick to point out that the NHS is NOT perfect.... but point me to a human system that IS.
In the Boston Herald Piece, Evans asserts:
Consider waiting lists. Across Britain, patients wait years for routine - or even emergency - treatments. And many die while waiting.
Well, this one's easy. Nobody I know has had anything approximating such an experience or has even heard of such an experience in the UK. Yes, you will wait a LONG time, perhaps, for something like an ingrown toenail to get treatment on the NHS. but an ingrown toenail is not going to kill you. If you don't want to wait for "free treatment" on the NHS, if you have the money, you have the option to pay privately and get treated sooner.
If you have an urgent medical issue, you will not wait for treatment, in most places, the vast majority of the time. I'd urge Nurse Evans to show her evidence to the contrary. I'm willing to allow for the possibility that she HAS some evidence, though a cursory examination of her blog didn't turn up any. (As it after all should be a reality based world...)
Granted, there may be districts where there IS a high rate of "waiting times." but people dying while waiting for treatment? I think not.
Evans continues in the Boston Herald Article:
Rationing, as history proves time and again, is always a recipe for horror.
Most Kossacks, I'd think, are already well aware that rationing of health care happens DAILY in this country and that people die hourly as a result. It could not possibly be worse under a system that allowed for universal health care.
She finishes in this article:
Already, this system has barred the purchase of Herceptin, a lifesaving breast-cancer drug. Alzheimer’s patients have had trouble obtaining Aricept, a drug which improves cognition in those afflicted with the degenerative disease.
I don't doubt that there ARE at times drugs that people have trouble getting. But first of all, the drugs that you CAN get are capped on the NHS at approximately $15.00 USD per prescription...whether the retail "price" of the drug is $15.00 or $1,500 a dose. (UK Kossacks, help me out here!) Secondly, we can't get expensive drugs here, often, at all, unless we happen to be rich, (NYCeve and others can point to a million examples of THAT happening.)
In short... I invite you to take a look at what Evans had to say, consider for yourself, and particularly if you are a nurse or doctor, (and therefore more "credible" than I on this subject,) consider directly dialoguing with this group and/or writing to the Boston Herald in response to these assertions.
I have brought this Op-Ed to the attention of some of my UK relatives, and will amend this diary if or when I have their comments.
And, if you're so inclined, tell me what you think of all this. Apologies if this had already been diaried, I DID do a search and came up empty handed.
UPDATE: Meteor Blades <swoon> commented that this story I've diaried about has appeared in other venues, including the Chicago tribune. http://www.dailykos.com/...
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