Gawd bless the NHS, and all who sail in her
Giles Turnbull
birthday. Two views I heard on the radio caught my ear.
The first was an American, told how things work here in the UK. She
was told how a chap in his 60s had to get his knee replaced. It was
done, of course, and for free - but he had to wait about 18 months for
the operation. Her voice was incredulous:
"But - but what did he do in the meantime? How did he manage for all
that time? I cannot believe that. I'm shocked. How can you make
someone wait so long?"
In the US, she said, he would get treated promptly, assuming he had
the money or his insurance company would pay up. The thought of being
made to wait for weeks or months for treatment appalled her. She
considered it almost medieval.
In contrast, a British parent whose grown-up daughter fainted while on
a trip to the USA is equally horrified that the girl had to pay for
her emergency treatment and trip to the hospital by ambulance while
unconscious.
The parent is utterly astonished that anyone should be made to pay for
emergency treatment. "That just shouldn't happen," she says. "People
who are seriously sick need to see a doctor, no matter how much money
they have in their purse."
The two systems are completely alien to one another, so much so that
they provoke these extreme reactions. All except the most elderly
British citizens have grown up with the NHS, and are accustomed to it
being there throughout their lives. They take it for granted, yes, but
also take it as an essential part of government spending, just like
education and defence. Healthcare just happens; and yes, it can be
slow and sometimes the facilities are shabby.
But not *always*, and I think this is something that sometimes gets
overlooked. While there are long waiting lists for many treatments,
for others the wait can be very short. My own experiences with the NHS
- thankfully few and far between, although I've had my share of scares
- have been almost universally excellent, and swift enough to not give
me any concern at all.
It comes down to trusting the system you've grown up with. The
Americans cannot understand a system where you don't get what you need
immediately. The British cannot understand one where you must pay,
even to see a doctor for something minor. British families will take
their children to a doctor about the tiniest little thing, just in
case. Not because they care about their children's health more than
the Americans, but just because the free NHS means that they can.