NHS Vs Private - The Big Debate

The recent huge international debate between the US and UK about private vs public healthcare earlier this year certianly fascinated me.  Up until then my main enounters of the NHS had been through my GP and heading in for the odd test now and then (not that I am odd mind!:) so I guess that you could have said that I was more pro NHS than everything.

In January this year, I was on holiday in the US and got pretty sick. As I was literally coughing my guts up and my ribs felt like I'd done 12 rounds with Tyson, I had no choice but to head to my friends private GP.  Wow, it was a private medical centre $100 just to register then you pay for the appointment and then you pay for your meds.  No subsidies here I tell ya. 


The medical centre was in the posh part of San Francisco and it was lovely, in terms of customer experience lots of wide open spaces, friendly and accessible helpful receptionists.  The doctor was lovely,really sympathetic and listened.  Ok - it does have to be said that my NHS GP's have been the same but for some reason the American level of service was just that touch better.  It could be argued that as I was paying for the consultation the GP had to be really nice to be as if I had been a local I could have taken my custom elsewhere next time.  None the less I left with a hefty prescription to relieve my acute bronchitis and allow me to be fit to board a plan to head home. 


The one big shock for me was the cost of everything.  Everything was plonked on my credit card and I kept all the receipts to claim on my travel insurance once home but still shelling out $500 was sizeable. The main chunk was my medications - one of the inhalers came in at $200 - ok it was super doper and was the one that sorted out my lungs and the bronchitis.  Only when faced with having to pay for healthcare consultations and their corresponding medicines do you realise how tough life is without free healthcare.  What would I have done if I was a low income american citizen unable to pay for health insurance - I would have had to wait until I was on deaths door before I could have a hope in hell of seeing someone.  That to me is a crying shame.  


My recent stay courtesy of the NHS this month was not the precise pleasurable experience that I had hoped for but it was free, I had a good surgeon who works in many of the prestigious private gynaecological hospitals - who knows maybe he had a hand in the birth of the Beckham clan! The hospital buildings had seen better days and some of the nurses were nice and some not so nice.  But the one thing that struck me is that you can't knock the fundamental ideal of free healthcare for all even if it is used and abused by some at times.