annanotbob's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In praise of the NHS Just a quick rant, inspired by reports in The Guardian about reactions in America to Obama's attempt to institute some kind of decent health care for all. The NHS is not without faults. There will always be a debate about the use of resources at the extremes of expense, a debate that will never be resolved, because no resolution is possible without infinite cash. But some of the accusations reported are just bollocks, really. We've all read scandalous stories of things going wrong in NHS hospitals but honestly, I have never had personal acquaintance with anything bad happening to anyone as a result of our health care being publicly funded. Individual stories of medical errors, sure. My own ectopic pregnancy was treated as appendicitis, when eventually discovered I was told I was now infertile, which has not been the case. But free at the point of delivery is just the only civilised way to proceed, surely? My daughter with MS has her own MS nurse she can call on at any time. Her meds are free. My mother had a hysterectomy a couple of years ago, when well into her eighties; my father-in-law had an ankle replaced last year, aged 82. The stories about there being a cut off age for treatment are just LIES. While I was in America in April, my sister-in-law was diagnosed and treated for early breast cancer, a friend had a complicated birth after a troubled pregnancy, another friend's daughter tried to kill herself and is still undergoing psychiatric treatment. All free. My mental health care - all free. The only people who will lose out if America has public health care are the insurance companies. I'm not going to break any confidences by relating details of health issues my hosts have suffered, but the stories I heard in America made me weep with despair and fury. Appalling, absolutely appalling. That's all for now. |2:13 p.m. - 12/08/2009 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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