[OccupyCU] Brits, Don't be Fooled: the NHS is Brilliant. And Aussies? Don't Let Your Guard Down

[David Johnson via OccupyCU]

    Brits, Don't be Fooled: the NHS is Brilliant. And Aussies? Don't Let
    Your Guard
    Down<https://portside.org/2014-08-12/brits-dont-be-fooled-nhs-brilliant-and-aussies-dont-let-your-guard-down>


Paola Totaro
August 12, 2014
theguardian.com 
<http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/aug/13/brits-dont-be-fooled-the-nhs-is-brilliant-and-aussies-dont-let-your-guard-down>
/After my breast cancer scare and exemplary care in the UK, I've felt a 
powerful urge to shout at the Brits: Do you know what an extraordinary 
health system you have?/
	
	

Children representing the NHS at the opening ceremony for the London 
2012 Olympic Games. , Bloomberg <x-msg://6/#>,
	
	

I found the lump a fortnight ago while on a work assignment in Vilnius, 
Lithuania. It was a hot, sunny day in the landlocked capital but as my 
fingers discovered what felt like a ping pong ball sized growth, ice 
went through my veins. I am not a catastrophist by nature but within 
seconds, I had envisaged the worst and by the time I was in the air 
homeward bound for Heathrow a few days later, I was writing my will in 
my head.

We have lived in London since 2008 and not a day goes by when the 
National Health Service isn't in the news, more often than not for 
mistakes, delays, apparent inefficiency or targeted for funding cuts. 
 From the red top tabloids to the circulation busting, Daily Mail, 
sticking the knife into the NHS seems to have become a favoured British 
sport (paradoxically, Britons still gush with national pride about Danny 
Boyle's London Olympics opening ceremony and his eccentrically, 
flamboyant homage to the NHS.)

Paradoxically too, despite this background hum of complaint, just 11% of 
Brits have private medical cover, compared to the 54% of Australians who 
pay for some form of general treatment cover.

Like most other Aussies, I'd paid for private health insurance since my 
mid 20s. Australia also has a world class public health system but "gap" 
payments -- the costs over and above what is reimbursed by Medicare -- 
can be significant, especially for specialist treatment. Having a family 
with four kids meant it made even more sense later although I was 
shocked by a rough, back of the envelope calculation that shows $70,000 
went in medical insurance since the mid 1980s.

In Britain, dentistry is pretty much the only medical procedure you pay 
for, and even that is incredibly cheap: £18.50 for screening and x-rays 
to a capped, one-off £219 payment for complex, multiple treatments like 
crowns, bridges and dentures.

All GP visits and diagnostic tests are free while under 16s receive free 
prescription medicines as well as dentistry, including orthodontics such 
as braces.

Last year alone, the NHS performed 10,595m operations, up nearly 60% on 
10 years ago. Every 36 hours, the NHS deals with one million patients 
while its hospitals admitted 15,146m people between 2012 and 2013, up by 
a third on a decade ago. Do UK taxpayers have any idea just how lucky 
they are?

Suddenly vulnerable that fateful Monday morning, I wasn't thinking quite 
so optimistically about the system. Without an appointment, I headed to 
the local GP surgery at 7.50 am for the first open surgery. Despite 
widespread national complaint about waiting times, I was in with my 
usual GP within 35 minutes. Brisk, efficient and thorough, she examined 
me with empathy and promised King's Hospital would contact me for tests 
within seven working days. She insisted I call her if I'd not heard 
anything by Friday.

Exactly 24 hours later, Royal Mail delivered a letter giving me an 
appointment with the breast care unit at King's College Hospital at 11am 
that Friday (four days later). I couldn't believe my eyes.

The next day however, a hospital receptionist rang to apologise that 
they'd over-booked Friday and would I mind moving to the following 
Monday. The idea of another anxiety-riddled weekend led me to beg that 
they call me if a cancellation opened up: I live a walk away and could 
be there in minutes. Unbelievably, an hour and a quarter later, thanks 
to patient being delayed by a train malfunction, I found myself in the 
breast unit.

Over the following four hours I saw a specialist consultant, underwent 
four mammograms, two ultrasounds, a needle-guided aspiration of one lump 
and an intense and frightening moment when a second lump was found 
behind the first. Another two mammograms followed, apparently 3D this 
time, but when I saw the specialist again late that afternoon, I knew 
from his unabashed smile it would be alright: "I'm convinced there is 
nothing sinister. These were cysts...we don't know why and it may happen 
again, but all you need for now is this antibiotic, just to be sure." 
Pathology would be back on Monday but his confidence was clear. I could 
have hugged the man and he, an oncologist delivering good news, was 
genuinely happy too.

In the weeks since, I've felt a powerful urge to shout at the Brits: "Do 
you know what an extraordinary health system you have? How civilized 
your society is to afford everyone, rich, poor, young and old a world 
class health safety net?"

Back with my GP the following week, I said something similar and this 
chronically over worked, brisk wonderful woman stopped and rummaged in 
her drawer: "Look at this," she said showing me the latest British 
Medical Journal, "The NHS tops the world's health systems in a 
comparison of 11 developed nations ... it tops it! And nobody reports 
it, nobody says a word. Of course we have problems, all systems do but 
when things go right -- which they do more often than not -- silence!".

Well, here I am not only saying something but shouting it publicly and 
loudly: wake up British taxpayers, wake up and appreciate -- and protect 
-- what you have built with such vision since the NHS's birth in 1948.

And Aussies? Please, please don't ignore the possibility that the 
proposed GP co-payment, sold as a measure to slash the mounting cost of 
health care driven, won't just get hiked over and over again - and the 
Medicare that you know and do love won't just disappear before your eyes.

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