To be so glad we have the NHS.

[Manchesterhistorygirl]

Well am I?

Background: ds2 was fine yesterday, not ill at all. He went of to bed happy as larry, but woke at about 8:30 ish screaming and burning up with a nasty pinprick rash and rolling eyes, cold hands, feet, etc. called ooh who said 999 immediately. We were at hospital by 9:30 after a ride in the ambulance and home by midnight after he came round and seemed fine again, sent home with high dose call pol and Brufen to keep his temperature under control.

He's doing ok now.

So here's to the NHS. Thank you.

there are good and bad doctors everywhere. But at least here you generally dont have to worry your child with cancer or cerebral palsy isnt going to get treated beause you dont have any money or cant afford Govt insurance.

larrygrylls perhaps it would be more acceptable to you if people were to say "the NHS saved my child's life while enabling me to keep our house"? That seems perfectly accurate.

YABU to think that the NHS is the only organisation on earth to be able to organise an ambulance.

Do you think other countries rely upon witch-doctors and hope?

Calm down. The OP is saying she's grateful for the NHS. Why does that have to mean she's not grateful for anything else? I think the NHS is amazing but I'm still grateful for lots of other things.

I agree revolting peasant, and there is good and bad.

but I have to say that in my experience, once you are in the system it works better, for example, my dd had lots of treatment as a toddler, if she ever needs the same, I can phone the consultant directly for an appointment rather than go through the lengthy referral process. I know of several examples of people who are the same, get into the system and you can skip bureaucracy.
But when she was first ill, the referral was very hard to get - weeks where she needed days. In retrospect I should have gone through A&E not GP, we paid for a private consultant to see her within 7 days, and then she was considered urgent, so all her treatment was then NHS. But we were in an odd situation, having flown back from where we were living, so it is our fault as well.

And my friend who had a mole removed gets an annual check of all her moles on NHS, ad infinitum (apparently) again, because she is already in the system.

Someone said 'name a G7 country where the child wouldn't get treated' well there are plenty of horror stories, in particular about immigrant women giving birth and being refused treatment in US, but they may all be urban myths. There are also plenty of examples where the more complex cancer treatment for example was not an option because the insurance doesn't pay and the public health coverage doesn't pay either.

YANBU to be glad we have the NHS.

You have used the structures that are in place well and they did what it says on the tin and you were sorted.

THe NHS is the only place to be when you are actually properly acutely ill. We do this fantastically.

Another Brit in the US, and I can't complain about the treatment I've had here, as we're very fortunate to have tip-top health insurance, meaning I've never waited longer than two weeks to see a specialist, and a trip to the ER several years ago resulted in an MRI within two hours etc. I really feel for those without Medicaid, though. Malcolm Gladwell wrote an excellent article in the New Yorker about people living in the US without insurance: www.newyorker.com/archive/2005/08/29/050829fa_fact

Meantime, back in the UK, my family has had a mixed bag of experiences the last couple of years. One of the local hospitals is ranked quite poorly, and two of my cousins have been pushed from pillar to post, in what has frankly been a disgraceful effort by the NHS to find out what ails them. My dad, on the other hand, has been treated promptly and efficiently, for troubles arising from his diverticulitis, and same with my mum when she needed her gall bladder out on an emergency basis.

Free AT POINT OF USE
So not free at all. It costs us taxpayers' money. Therefore we shouldn't be grateful for it as if it was a gift from our benevolent government. We should expect it to save lives, manage budgets sensibly, not employ overpaid managers who pass the buck shamelessly (à la Stafford) and provide healthcare for whoever needs it. But we should stop lionising it and imagining it is some sacred cow never to be complained about or taken to task. I have had some excellent NHS experiences and some terrible ones. Unfortunately the terrible ones tended to be in more important situations

That ^

Free AT POINT OF USE
So not free at all. It costs us taxpayers' money. Therefore we shouldn't be grateful for it as if it was a gift from our benevolent government. We should expect it to save lives, manage budgets sensibly, not employ overpaid managers who pass the buck shamelessly (à la Stafford) and provide healthcare for whoever needs it. But we should stop lionising it and imagining it is some sacred cow never to be complained about or taken to task. I have had some excellent NHS experiences and some terrible ones. Unfortunately the terrible ones tended to be in more important situations.

I think we should be happy to have it.
It is there for you whether you are employed and paying taxes or not, it's there when you become a widow and no longer have a Dh who is working, it's there for your children and young adults who have never worked and paid taxes, it's there no matter who you are, rich or poor.
Maybe watching Sicko the documentay would show many people why they should be pleased that they can turn up at A&E and get care, no matter what.
Just Google Sicko Documentary Michael Moore Free

Hi all, just catching up on this. I posted early on yesterday.

Hi also to other expats in the US! It certainly is a mixed bag here.

The thing that disgusts me most about the US system has to be the fact that this is an extremely wealthy nation and yet both children and adults are actively left to die, often through coincidence of birth and consequent lack of wealth. When the drugs are actually available, when the Drs have the right training and so on, but people are REFUSED treatment?! Where's the humanity in that?

Even worse is the (extremely common, IME) attitude that it's somehow your 'fault' if you're ill or have no or poor insurance coverage - and the jokes made about Canada being a Socialist nation because of the free healthcare offered there. I'd call it civilised, personally...

In the back of my mind, I know that I always have the UK and the NHS as a back up, so long as we were well enough to fly. I have no idea how I'd feel of I were a mother of a child and knew their life was going to be severely negatively impacted through lack of treatment that was absolutely available, yet also unaffordable.

I'd definitely recommend 'Sicko' too, though there are parts of the film which are not entirely accurate. It gives a good general flavour though. Pity the poor single mothers who actively seek out Canadian men to marry in order to get the necessary healthcare for their children. Can you believe that businesses facilitating this practice actually exist?!

flyingspaghettimonster - which insurance company are you with? As those copays sound high! Also interesting re the billed cost of the CS. My friend was just billed $18,000 (covered by insurance) but there is no way on earth the actual operations cost that much. The mark ups for revenue generating purposes must run into the 100s of %.

Thanks ukatlast but I am def sure we aren't eligible for NHS apart from needing emergency care. It's fine since DH's employer pays for full health insurance.

The US system has massive transaction costs, it is by no means a beacon of efficiency.

I know that I always have the UK and the NHS as a back up, so long as we were well enough to fly.

That's probably true in practise, i.e. if you don't mention you been living abroad, but strictly speaking I don't think you are immediately eligible when you return. I think you have to re-establish UK residency first, which takes a while. (Think it's a few months, not sure.)

Londonman - I know, but it just helps me rationalise living here!

Healthcare/insurance is one of the main reasons we would not settle here permanently...