NHS attacked by US - Twitter

[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 And BUPA approved

[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.