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I've experienced both, in my view, you only sacrifice quality in a private system. In the UK we have something called national insurance taken from our wages at a rate of 11%, the percentage is lower if you are paying into a private pension, or if you get an extra pension with your job, for example I get a teachers pension, so I pay a little bit less. There are also reduced rates for married people, you do not pay any NI when you pass retirement age, even if you carry on working.
National insurance doesn't just pay for the NHS, it covers
Sick pay
State pension
Widowed parents allowance
Bereavement allowance
Bereavement payout.
Job seekers allowance
In some area so the UK you don't pay anything extra for prescriptions, in Wales prescriptions are free, in Scotland £5 and England around £7. All contraception is free via prescription no matter where you live or what contraception you use. If you have more than 14 prescriptions a year, you fill in a form making all prescriptions free. Those under 18 and above 65 do not pay for prescriptions.
A regular doctors visit here, everyone has a family GP, but you can go and see any doctor in your practice, so if you want to see a doctor of a different sex to your family doctor there isn't a problem, it also means you can get any test results from any doctor in the practice if yours is off work or ill. If you are away from home and you cannot get to your doctors, you can go to any NHS doctors surgery in the UK and be seen, alternatively you can go to a drop in centre, which is like a cross between a doctors and A&E for minor emergencies. Care is available 24/7. You can also have a doctor called out to your home, if you don't feel you are ill enough for hospital but cannot get yourself to the surgery. Alternatively, you can phone the surgery who will send an paramedic bus, which drops patients off at their doctors surgeries free of charge.
Nurses, if you have recently had an operation, or suffer from sores, a nurse can come to your house daily to wash and redress for you. We also have MacMillan, cancer nurses who can come out daily to care for you, or be with you 24/7 at your home. A nurse lived at my parents when my dad had prostate cancer, she was brilliant and took so much weight off my mum and my dad. When anything new happened having her there was very reassuring.
Nurses at the doctors surgery, carry out blood tests, vaccinations, smear tests, prostate exams, changing of dressing, they also teach you how to care for any complaints.
Minor surgery, some can be carried out at the doctors, such as nail removal, mole removal, the snip, fitting of the contraceptive implant etc.
A&E, Accident and Emergency. For complaints that you think would need hospital treatment even if you visit your doctor, broken bones, severe infection, bangs to the head, falls in children and the elderly, cuts that need stitches, that sort of thing. At our local A&E a doctor is behind the desk with receptionists so every patient can be looked at to see exactly what the problem is as soon as they walk in the door, so the doctor can see whether or not you need medical treatment urgently. If you suspect something like a kidney infection, even if you aren't seen straight away, you have to give a urine sample straight away, so the minute you are called in the results of that are in.
Serious illness/hospital stays.
If you phone an ambulance, you bypass all of A&E even if you aren't an emergency.
I've spent way too much time in hospital. When I was 19 I was in intensive care for two weeks, I had my own room, attached to it my parents had a double bedroom with a mini kitchen/living room and bathroom. Every time I have had to stay in hospital I have had assigned nurses, so a certain few care for me, so I can get used to them, instead of a different one every time. In intensive care the doctor was available 24/7, when I was in the normal ward he/she would do round in the morning, afternoon and evening, then after any surgeries or when a patient complained of too much pain, new symptoms etc. The rounds are timed to coincide with visiting hours as well, so your family can easily find out everything they need to know.
When I stayed on the day ward, I didn't have my own room this time, quality of care was still fab though, I remember though there were two senile men who kept swapping beds, they kept the nurses busy!
Children's ward, back home, the top floor was the children's ward and like a hotel, there was a choice, a family room or a ward. When we have been there it has mainly been older children on the ward, so it is quite social. They had nurses who were there to play with the kids and to take them outside to play in the play area, to keep their minds of illness and so they weren't bored. Doctors do not wear uniforms in the children's ward and the nurses where uniform covered in cats and things, so they don't portray a scary image.
I've had both private and NHS care, with the private, I was given physio I did not need and that damaged my knees even more and led to more operations which were carried out by the NHS with no problem. Mikey has stayed over night in the NHS (previous description of children's ward) he has also spent the day in a private hospital. We weren't allowed to stay over night, he was admitted outside visiting hours, so we had to leave as soon as he was admitted, he was in a large ward not in his own room. When we got there the next day we discovered that not only had he not been taken to the toilet, but he hadn't even been changed or clean. No one on the ward had been fed either, this is one of the best private hospitals in the whole of the UK. His antibiotic drip had not been replaced either, so he was not receiving the medication he needed. Thankfully the nurses incharge were sacked, but they could easily work in any other private hospital again.
Dentistry, all dentistry is free for children, pregnant women and those on welfare, such as disability benefits, plain old welfare etc. When you are over 18 your treatment is subsidised, so while a filling may cost £60 with a private dentist, it is £35ish at our NHS dentist.
Glasses, I've only had them since I was 16, when the cost was £30 so I'm not sure if that is the cost for all under 16's or if they are free. If you are under 18, on benefits or retired eye tests are free and you can get a form that entitles you to either a certain amount of money off your glasses, I think the minimum amount is £35.
Mental health, you go through your GP, who then refers you to receive treatment. If you need to stay within a mental health unit that is not part of a hospital, if you are 16 or under, you have teachers who work within the unit so you can carry on your education. Then you have other things as well, music rooms, games rooms, tv rooms etc. The only time your family cannot visit is during meal times and after bedtime.
Schools, we have school nurses, do the usual stuff. Then health professionals come to schools to aid education, mental health nurses, sexual health nurses, and general nurses.
I'll probably think of more stuff later, but that is it for now.
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National Healthcare- Opinions
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