NHS attacked by US - Twitter

[efq]

Web users have rushed to defend the NHS after critics of Barack Obama's health reforms branded British hospitals "evil".


http://news.sky.com/sky-news/content/StaticFile/jpg/2009/Aug/Week2/15359692.jpg The Twitter 'hashtag' #WeLoveTheNHS has become the most-discussed topic


The words "we love the NHS" rose to become the most-written about topic on Twitter as a campaign to defend British hospitals swept the internet.
The US president is trying to introduce changes which would allow more uninsured Americans to get access to healthcare.
But opponents have paid for a $1m (£600,000) advertisement campaign warning it is a "socialist" plan to mimic Britain's "evil" national health service.
The controversial adverts have so far provoked nearly 4,000 posts of support using the Twitter hashtag #welovetheNHS.
Most have shared personal stories about their own friends and family.


http://news.sky.com/sky-news/content/StaticFile/jpg/2009/Aug/Week2/15359696.jpg Some of the posts on Twitter

"My Dad was given 6 wks to live - without NHS I wouldn't have had him for 2 more years after acute myloid leukaemia diagnosis," Twitter user 'laragreenway' posted.
"My brother had a heart attack last week and has been given world class care," 'mwskinn' wrote.
It has won support from NHS Direct, which has its own Twitter account (http://twitter.com/nhsdirect).
The row has been further fuelled by a scathing blog post from former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott (http://www.gofourth.co.uk/progressive-dont-make-me-laugh) on the Conservative MEP Daniel Hannan.
The EU politician criticised the NHS on US television, saying "I wouldn't wish it on anybody," due to "huge waiting lists" and "bad survival rates".
He has previously told American viewers the health service was a "60-year mistake".
Mr Prescott said the comments undermined the Conservatives' claims they are a progressive party.

Such jealousy. If we want a heart transplant, we get it for free. If you want a heart transplant in the US, be prepared to cough up A LOT. I am not saying all of the US are jealous, just some. The rest are fine and love the NHS and wish they were in the US.

http://twitter.com/#search?q=welovetheNHS

I saw this post by a London Gangster Chav person (I checked his previous tweets and picture) and he wrote this: "We all know the nhs isn't perfect, but we do get an ambulance when we fall ill, and they dont check our wallets. Big up staff" - Shows his thanks to the NHS.

[xxMATTGxx]

Yeah, I've seen many people have the "I love NHS" logo on their profile pictures now. I recently joined in with them. :)

[efq]

Same :)

If anyone else wants to http://twibbon.com/join/welovetheNHS

[J0SH]

NHS are good and bad in some ways, my dad had a blocked arterie went on NHS they said nothing's wrong with him, then he went private and turnt out he needed a stent put in. My grandad also got MRSA from their hospital. :P

[efq]

Like I said, no-ones perfect nor is the NHS. But atleast they don't check you have insurance for your healthcare before they take you and if you don't they leave you.

[Jordy]

It seems the more Conservative Americans had also been making things up, saying that Stephen Hawkings would of died if he used the NHS when infact he has used the NHS lol.


The article's author went on to assert that "people such as scientist Stephen Hawking wouldn't have a chance in the UK, where the National Health Service would say the life of this brilliant man, because of his physical handicaps, is essentially worthless."

As the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Jay Bookman quickly pointed out, (http://blogs.ajc.com/jay-bookman-blog/2009/08/10/it-doesnt-take-stephen-hawking-to-figure-this-one-out/) Prof Hawking was born in the UK, and has lived and worked there for his entire life.
And UK newspapers the Guardian (http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/aug/12/birthers-stephen-hawking-paul-rowen) and Daily Telegraph reported (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/6017878/Stephen-Hawking-I-would-not-be-alive-without-the-NHS.html) Prof Hawking as saying that he "wouldn't be here today if it were not for the NHS".I much prefer the UK's Health System to the US one however they do have a point which definitely does need addressing, the waiting lists are ridiculous.

[-:Undertaker:-]

I agree with them, the United States shouldn't burden itself especially at a time when national debt is spiralling out of control by creating a monsters which ends up ass the National Health Service. The NHS is too big, outdated compared to its rivals overseas despite billions upon billions poured into it and lastly wastes billions every year by paying private firms over the top prices to build new hospitals.

The NHS needs to be reformed and de-centralised, if that fails then the only other option would be privatisation.

[GommeInc]

Despite the minor conflictions within the NHS, the health service is world class :/ Infact, they pioneer with quite alot of break-through operations which have never properly happened in other countries - with research and so forth which, although happen through alot of charities, they go through the health service (no duh, it's common sense).

Splenectomies were first done in the NHS, and my one was one of the first, complete success operations and the NHS have taken that spleen and researched, tested and pioneered with the results, sending them off to these "amazing countries with their poor amazing health service," to share the results.

As usual, the select few dumb Americans are proving why the silent majority of decent, smart Americans with brains should go on a mass-genocide to rid the country of these idiots. They make crap up, as per usual, with not even a whiff of bothering to do some research.

I pity America, I really do :/

[alexxxxx]

you can't put a price on good health for everyone. it doesn't matter about the price it has on the economy, the tax rises needed. it's treated as a human right here, to be healthy and to be looked at by a doctor. I'd hate to live in the US where you are always thinking about what would happed to you or your family if you get really really ill and the insurance company won't pay up.

we are extremely lucky to live in a situation where we can be recovering in hospital and concentrate only on getting better, rather than how we are going to afford it. :) of course there are problems with it, but we have a longer life expectancy than the usa and we spend less on health care per head, so we're doing better.

[Wahey]

I have mixed feelings towards the NHS

They've helped me when i've injured myself

But when my gran and grandad were in hospital they treated them poorly because they were old?

And only 2 weeks ago my mums friends sister died after she went into the Doctors asking for some help with extreme pains in the shoulders and they didn't even try and help her, sent her away, she died hours later of a heart attack


So tbh i couldn't care less the ammount of abuse NHS get from the US

[Browney]

While I was in hospital, they were fantastic. I needed 3 operations on a broken wrist of mine, and they didn't settle for nearly right, they wanted it to be perfect. And even when I had appendicitis, my GP missed it, but we went back, a day later when the condition was worse and I was sent straight through. In just about 2 hours from arriving at the hospital I was in theatre. Everyone makes mistakes, but if it wasn't for the NHS, I'd be costing my parents a bomb. So there's no hard feelings from me. :P

[efq]

At the end of the day, it isn' free for us. We pay tax's, part of that tax goes to the cost for health care. In America, none of their tax goes towards health care.

[Technologic]

I'd rather have a system where doctors get bonuses for saving patients not where they get bonuses for turning away patients like the the US.

[ifuseekamy]

At the end of the day, it isn' free for us. We pay tax's, part of that tax goes to the cost for health care. In America, none of their tax goes towards health care.
You can't miss what you didn't have, so it'll hit you harder having to pay $15,000 to give birth in hospital as opposed to receiving it "free" because you pay for it in taxes.

[Sammeth.]

The NHS is nothing but good in my opinion. As many have said it has its pros and cons, but as it is, the NHS shouldn't ever be removed, there isn't any justification for it to be removed, and Im sure when the NHS saves a life of someone close to you you'll be incredibly thankful. Just one of many reasons to vote Labour*+*+*+

[StefanWolves]

Put it this way, I'd rather wait for surgery and then get good quality service for free, unlike in the US, you may get through straight away, but having the burden of paying for even seeing the doctor, is disgraceful...

Long live the NHS.

[-:Undertaker:-]

At the end of the day, it isn' free for us. We pay tax's, part of that tax goes to the cost for health care. In America, none of their tax goes towards health care.

..and the NHS still is paying billions on red tape schemes/officals, it isnt run like a private business because it doesnt have (real) budget like a private business does so it doesn't really care whats wasted. I am still willing to give it a chance though, but it needs de-centralising and then we'd see.


The NHS is nothing but good in my opinion. As many have said it has its pros and cons, but as it is, the NHS shouldn't ever be removed, there isn't any justification for it to be removed, and Im sure when the NHS saves a life of someone close to you you'll be incredibly thankful. Just one of many reasons to vote Labour*+*+*+

The NHS is facing incredible monetary problems every year, is far too large and centralised and something needs to happen to sort it out and if that doesn't happen the only option will be privatisation because it shouldn't and cannot carry on as it is.


Put it this way, I'd rather wait for surgery and then get good quality service for free, unlike in the US, you may get through straight away, but having the burden of paying for even seeing the doctor, is disgraceful...

Long live the NHS.

You pay through it with your taxes, so with a social healthcare system you may not use ever in your life, or may use once or twice every few years - your actually losing money. Doctors need paying, just in the United States people have the option to pay for it when they need it.

[StefanWolves]

Well i'm quite thankful that I have a system where if I ever get cancer that I will have some of the best health service in the world, for free, even if their is waiting lines ect.

You know, if you don't like the NHS, you can always go private, or go abroad and pay, so you still have other options ect, we get the best of both worlds, and for that we are lucky.

And yes, I agree, it does need to be changed, but it doesn't deserve to be called 'evil' by some dumb American half whits who haven't ever experienced it.

[-:Undertaker:-]

Well i'm quite thankful that I have a system where if I ever get cancer that I will have some of the best health service in the world, for free, even if their is waiting lines ect.

You know, if you don't like the NHS, you can always go private, or go abroad and pay, so you still have other options ect, we get the best of both worlds, and for that we are lucky.

And yes, I agree, it does need to be changed, but it doesn't deserve to be called 'evil' by some dumb American half whits who haven't ever experienced it.

My family pay taxes and always have, i'm entitled to the best of NHS care and I do agree with you that evil is a strong word, but the case for the United States to introduce a NHS-style system is not strong at all, when looking at the crisis the NHS is and will sink into within years and especially as the United States is in severe levels of debt, with its citzens already struggling - they dont need more tax.

[Black_Apalachi]

nvr has got a lot to answer for :P.

Lol overall if I lived in any country without the service we have available to us from the NHS, I think I would feel very vulnerable and scared of anything happening to me or my family purely because of the financial costs. Basically I've got no money now so if I had a life-threatening problem right now and had to pay for the treatment, I'd be ******. I don't know how they even cope tbh. But anyway, I feel very lucky to have such a service available to me.

[StefanWolves]

Well we pay taxes, they pay for health insurance, but I'm sure their added health insurance combined with tax is a bit more than the tax we pay... (im guessing)

My family have paid taxes all their lives to, every single person in this country is entitled to the best health service, and on the whole, that's what everyone gets, except for the minority of Hospitals spreading MRSA ect, which I agree, need to be sorted out, and some hospitals do need to be renevated and updated ASAP.

But apart from that, we can't really complain, yes we have waiting times, but that's just a downside that we have to live with, for now, at least everyone in our country benefits from free health care, hints why we have a better life expectancy than the US.

[alexxxxx]

The Democrats don't want to bring in NHS style care at all. They want to bring in government-run insurance instead, which is completely different. It's more what the French have. Private hospitals, but public insurance. They don't want a system where the government owns the hospitals pays the doctors etc.

I don't know what you mean by 'de-centralisation' undertaker because it already is fairly de-centralised, that's why you have postcode lotteries on certain drugs you can get in certain NHS trusts. And I don't know what you mean by lots of money wasted in the NHS either, if you look at the costs that British people spend on healthcare and the Americans spend, then the Americans spend alot more. And the WHO put their system lower than ours. So....?

Health isn't about money, health isn't about politics, health is about people getting better and I personally think the US system is immoral, vile and is an insult to those who simply can't afford it.

Watch the film 'SiCko' by Micheal Moore and you'll see some of the sad stories about people in their 70s and 80s having to work long hours so they can afford their drugs which their insurance companies won't pay for. Do you want to live in a system like that?

[Jordy]

nvr has got a lot to answer for :P.Nvr is a Democrat so presumably he's for reform. It's the hard-line republicans coming up with all this crap.


At the end of the day, it isn' free for us. We pay tax's, part of that tax goes to the cost for health care. In America, none of their tax goes towards health care.In America though they still pay some taxes which go into the health system. So the poor are paying for Health Care they can't even get access to. It's not excessive taxes like in the UK but I'm pretty confident that they still do pay some taxes going into Health Care.

All the people who would pay for the absolute top insurance can get private health care in the UK anyway. The upper class will get great health care in either system. The middle class will generally get good health care with the NHS but quite average in the US system due to restrictions with their insurance. And the working class get nothing out the US system but they get good health care with the NHS.

[GommeInc]

All the people who would pay for the absolute top insurance can get private health care in the UK anyway. The upper class will get great health care in either system. The middle class will generally get good health care with the NHS but quite average in the US system due to restrictions with their insurance. And the working class get nothing out the US system but they get good health care with the NHS.
It's strange, because alot of the private health care uses NHS facilities and systems, it's rare for it to be solely private other than cosmetic surgery which can be done in a living room and is therefore private, there's little risk. Brain surgery and anything major is done through the NHS - if you ask to go private they will do post-surgery, where you recover in a private hospital if at all available.

Romford Hospital (called Queens I think) is the countries main brain hospital, and is an NHS hospital. Better healthcare is done within the NHS for both middle and high class citizens. The only thing which seperates the two are private surgeries which do minor operations.

BUPA piggy back off the NHS for things such as MRI scans and alot of other expensive, powerful machinery. Private hospitals are only a name, the service doesn't really exist :P

The NHS is a damn good service, its only downfall is the government which spend too much time piling money on useless facilities when the most important things are closer to home.

[-:Undertaker:-]

The Democrats don't want to bring in NHS style care at all. They want to bring in government-run insurance instead, which is completely different. It's more what the French have. Private hospitals, but public insurance. They don't want a system where the government owns the hospitals pays the doctors etc.

I don't know what you mean by 'de-centralisation' undertaker because it already is fairly de-centralised, that's why you have postcode lotteries on certain drugs you can get in certain NHS trusts. And I don't know what you mean by lots of money wasted in the NHS either, if you look at the costs that British people spend on healthcare and the Americans spend, then the Americans spend alot more. And the WHO put their system lower than ours. So....?

Health isn't about money, health isn't about politics, health is about people getting better and I personally think the US system is immoral, vile and is an insult to those who simply can't afford it.

Watch the film 'SiCko' by Micheal Moore and you'll see some of the sad stories about people in their 70s and 80s having to work long hours so they can afford their drugs which their insurance companies won't pay for. Do you want to live in a system like that?

Health does tie in with money, money is everything because without money you end up with nothing in the end. Money certainly is an issue to those people who the NHS has refused life-extending drugs to, despite them working all their lives and paying tax toeards the NHS throughout their life, yet when they need the NHS the NHS has turned them down.

The issue is de-centralisation, Gerry Robinson did an investigation into the problems of the NHS and they all stemmed from one thing; central government. It slaps regulation after regulation on the NHS, the doctors agreed with him, the nurses agreed with him and the board of the hospital also agreed with him.

The NHS cannot and will not continue as it is doing.

[alexxxxx]

Health does tie in with money, money is everything because without money you end up with nothing in the end. Money certainly is an issue to those people who the NHS has refused life-extending drugs to, despite them working all their lives and paying tax toeards the NHS throughout their life, yet when they need the NHS the NHS has turned them down.

The issue is de-centralisation, Gerry Robinson did an investigation into the problems of the NHS and they all stemmed from one thing; central government. It slaps regulation after regulation on the NHS, the doctors agreed with him, the nurses agreed with him and the board of the hospital also agreed with him.

The NHS cannot and will not continue as it is doing.

Health is the most important thing in people's lives. You cannot begin to appreciate a life 'with things' if your health is dreadful. If you can't get out of bed, then even with a room full of gadgets, you can't really enjoy your life. If you think that without money you have nothing, then you must live a very sad and shallow life.

Is it fair people have to stitch themselves up if they can't afford to get it done at the hospital? Is it fair people have to lose everything that they own in order to get themselves treated for a complicated cancer, even if they HAVE health insurance? No. Is it fair a child dies because the health insurance company won't pay for the treatment because they're currently in a non-affiliated hospital? No. This happens in the US.

There is a large amount of money spent on healthcare in the UK, but not as much as in the USA. The insurance company CEOs receive ridiculous amounts of money in bonuses and bureaucracy, near those of bankers, meaning prices rise. Do we want to spend more than we need to on healthcare, which everyone should be able to access? This is what privatisation or a US-style healthcare system would bring.

It works great as it is, but there is room for improvement. Being low on the EU table of healthcare isn't great, but we surpass the USA easily.

[Browney]

Ok, well last night my little brother thought he had twisted his ankle, but my dad took him to hospital to be sure, and for peace of mind. He may have broken his ankle. This would've gone un-noticed in America because that kind of check up can cost up to $100, and most families cannot afford that for peace of mind.

[LuketheDuke]

Wasnt it a tory MP who said the NHS was evil, just he said it on American TV which has caused this whole fracus.

my view is that whilst the NHS has flaws Id much rather live in a country which isnt controlled by massive private healthcare insurance companies. If I can vote for a government I can scrutinise them over healthcare whereas in the US those insurance companies managed to destroy a universal healthcare bill all by themselves, not entirely democratic.

with a pinch of salt Sicko shows up the American Healthcare Industry for what it is; inconsistant and potentially very expensive.

Decentralised healthcare for the US would make more sense for a country with a population of 303 million though. Whilst this country grows in population it could also be an issue we should face.

[Mrs.McCall]

It's been a trending topic for quite a while now and I am glad. Yes the NHS has it's issues but I find it terrible it's been called 'evil' and 'Orwellian'.

[lick]

Watch the moive "Sicko" by Michael Moore. I was shocked at there healthcare

[NIKKEE]

It's good and bad, it's quite good for prescription charges in the UK, I work in a pharmacy and the amount of people who don't get regular prescriptions I've heard complain. Last year it was £5 and now it's £4, and it's going down and down. Plus there are 14 different possible exemptions, and I'll tell you most folk know how to work it so they don't pay. But my papa was misdiagnosed in a hospital, he was told he was fine and he died in the hospital waiting room. I can't help but blame the very young, foreign doctor who barely spoke English.

[-:Undertaker:-]

Health is the most important thing in people's lives. You cannot begin to appreciate a life 'with things' if your health is dreadful. If you can't get out of bed, then even with a room full of gadgets, you can't really enjoy your life. If you think that without money you have nothing, then you must live a very sad and shallow life.

Is it fair people have to stitch themselves up if they can't afford to get it done at the hospital? Is it fair people have to lose everything that they own in order to get themselves treated for a complicated cancer, even if they HAVE health insurance? No. Is it fair a child dies because the health insurance company won't pay for the treatment because they're currently in a non-affiliated hospital? No. This happens in the US.

There is a large amount of money spent on healthcare in the UK, but not as much as in the USA. The insurance company CEOs receive ridiculous amounts of money in bonuses and bureaucracy, near those of bankers, meaning prices rise. Do we want to spend more than we need to on healthcare, which everyone should be able to access? This is what privatisation or a US-style healthcare system would bring.

It works great as it is, but there is room for improvement. Being low on the EU table of healthcare isn't great, but we surpass the USA easily.

Health is everything, but without common sense which includes finance and monetary then you cannot have that health. If I had no money I would live on the streets, have no friends, have no house, no job, no social life - nothing, not even a bed to sleep in, so yes the sad fact of the matter is that money is everything because without money you live a very crap life to put it in crude terms.

..is it fair people are left to die on hospital beds?, is it fair that the United States has far better cancer survival rates than the United Kingdom?, is it fair that people are refused life extending drugs? & finally is it fair that people who pay tax all their life towards the NHS are refused all this when they are most in need of it? - No. This happens in the UK.

I said before de-centralisation needs to be brought in before privatisation, infact if de-centralisation was brought in I think the NHS would be able to survive for much longer under the state than it is currently heading for. Afterall, privatisation fixed all public services and the country itself a few decades ago, and sometime in the future the NHS will have to be fixed aswell before it implodes on itself.


Wasnt it a tory MP who said the NHS was evil, just he said it on American TV which has caused this whole fracus.

my view is that whilst the NHS has flaws Id much rather live in a country which isnt controlled by massive private healthcare insurance companies. If I can vote for a government I can scrutinise them over healthcare whereas in the US those insurance companies managed to destroy a universal healthcare bill all by themselves, not entirely democratic.

with a pinch of salt Sicko shows up the American Healthcare Industry for what it is; inconsistant and potentially very expensive.

Decentralised healthcare for the US would make more sense for a country with a population of 303 million though. Whilst this country grows in population it could also be an issue we should face.

Labour have been quick to call Daniel Hannan unpatriotic which did make me laugh, especially coming from the Labour Party. It just goes to show when you say something Labour do not agree with you are either unpatriotic, racist or xenophobic.

The NHS is inconsistant and very expensive as it is, so we appear to be on the same lines as the United States on that issue. On the issue of de-centralisation, it works anywhere and needs to be introduced here because the NHS is becoming a monolithic giant which one day somebody is going to have to give a good pruning and dressing down to.

[dekkytsh]

Its just fickle americans using us as an excuse, jealousy.
http://www.twitter.com/dekkytsh

[Sammeth.]

The NHS is one of my favourite things about Britain. Along with Gordon Brown.

[jam666]

There is good and bad points about both systems, fair enough healthcare is free to a certain extent in the uk, but the quality of it is utterly disgraceful, on the otherhand in the states you have to pay for healthcare but it is much better.

the NHS does need to be reformed in the form of privatisation, people will frown upon this idea, however i personally see it as the only way forward as the NHS needs a good KICK up the backside.

On the topic of the NHS, i have a fair few horror stories to tell, some so graphic i will not say on here however one example is my mother.

She has a condition and there is 3 treatments available, however she is only entitled to 1 and if that doesnt work she will not have access to the other 2 treatments which could possibly work. I find this absolutely disgusting and to be frank id rather pay for my healthcare and be living on the streets then have sub-standard immoral healthcare.

Some parts of the NHS are good, and thats fine however there will come a point where it needs to be shot in a trashcan and something else (privatised but free healthcare) put in its place that can deliver exceptional service.

[Sammeth.]

There is good and bad points about both systems, fair enough healthcare is free to a certain extent in the uk, but the quality of it is utterly disgraceful, on the otherhand in the states you have to pay for healthcare but it is much better.

I've had a lot of family members and friends go in and out of NHS Hospitals, and not once have I seen them recieve less than amazing care and amazing quality. I would say from a hell of a lot of experience with the NHS, its nothing short of a top notch service.

[GommeInc]

I've had a lot of family members and friends go in and out of NHS Hospitals, and not once have I seen them recieve less than amazing care and amazing quality. I would say from a hell of a lot of experience with the NHS, its nothing short of a top notch service.
Same really, although some of the service does lack alot. Cleanliness seems to be a problem lately, in some wards (not all) are messy or lack a certain standard. It varies from hospital to hospital though, new ones (or new sections and wards even) seem to handle the service really well, but some how old ones don't... Or at least, that's what I've found in my experience. My local hospital has a really good stroke ward, everything about it is amazing - the service and the rehabilitation areas/units. But it lacks in the older parts of the building/s, where it is a bit messy. The MRI Ward is damn good though :P And BUPA approved :P

[StefanWolves]

I think one thing that you can say about the NHS is that it's inconsistent, if it was it'd be one of if not the best health service in the world, but it isn't, by quite away, I'm still thankful for it thouhg. :)