Is British health care equal for everyone or is the service quality received determined by one's social class?

Question

I would like responses of both Pro and Con, as this topic is debatable. Does everyone in the UK have equal access to a GP, NHS, emergency treatments etc or is social class still a major determinant of health and morality in Britain?

Some believe that problems like infant morality rates, levels of dental health, length of life, cause of death and incidence of illness are all determined by social class.

While others believe everything is equal. And that differences in health are due to one's generic inheritance and individual lifestyle choices.

Thoughts?

Answer 1

You have done pretty well from the responses. And my experience would tally with what they are saying.

One point is there seems to be a lot of whining [begrudgery is the equivelant Irish term and I am of the green variety] about private health insurance. I have PHI because I can afford it. However I drive an eight-year-old car. A lot of feckless whingers here on the NHS and without PHI are driving 06 cars and living in relative squalor.

UK is the fourth richest country on earth and well over 60% of the population could afford to pay for PHI but they prefer to blow it on bling

Answer 2

One point being that its still divided by social class regarding private treatment, either those who choose to and are financially able to pay for private health cover themselves or those in employment providing this cover, that again would involve social class and the upper working class. With regard to the NHS provision all are entitled to the service of a GP or emergency care as well as the right to general hospital treatment.
I think the question should be......how long will we all be able to get free NHS treatments....how long will it be before we have to pay for what used to be NHS care because the super-hospitals have been privitised ?? thats when your question will have a totally different answer, because thats they way healthcare is moving...and yes then it will resemble the USA....hospitals for social classes...those that can pay and those that cant....those that cant will then not be getting routine care or be able to pay for emergency care.....

Answer 3

It is not equal in that there are two tiers of medical care in Britain, either private or national. Social class has collapsed in Britain. Wealth is now equated with class, rather than class being a separate thing. One can be upper class and poor, yet most people would not see that person as belonging to the upper classes anymore.

Those that can afford it, or have medical inurance (which again equates to affording it) can go to a private hospital and pay for speedier service (both not having to wait for an operation for months, and also in terms of the actual operation), better service (e,g, having a room to oneself) and overall a more pleasant time.

If you use the National Health Service (NHS), then I would say that overall, the service is ignorant of class. However, for things like transplants, wealth can come into the equation. The more wealthy someone is, the more healthy they are likely to be. Those who are on waiting lists for, say a heart transplant, have to go through criteria to match whether they are the most suitable for a heart (as there are so few around). You have to be ill enough to need a transplant, but not ill enough to be a waste of the heart. Further, you are selected on what benefits you may gain, so a younger, thin patient is more liely to get a heart than an elderly fat one.

The difference in private and social health care is a choice for those that have that opportunity. They pay for both services, the private out of their own pocket and the national through taxation. The difference in social class allows or bars a person from this choice.

To the guy who said that the government spends more money on richer areas, that is patently untrue. Urban redevelopment programmes see far more money being poured into ghetto turn around than nice areas have spent on them. You might find, if you bothered to look, that it is the locals that spend their own money on their private property and that tends to increase the look of an area. Further, those in richer areas often contribute (or are forced to contribute via covenants etc) to the upkeep of local communal-use areas, like communal gardens.

Sadly, the government has forgotten to look after the middle classes in England. it is besoted by those with lots of money, and those with nothing and has left the white middle classes to foot the bill for everyone else. Too scared to annoy the big boys with limitles sums of money with high taxation etc, and too willing to pour money into ghettos and inner city areas who do not thank anyone for anything, the middle classes are made to suffer the burden of carrying the country, often so that people who are not even from England can benefit. That seems a little unfair to me.

Answer 4

Good Question.
Social class certainly comes into the equation on receiving treatment.
"unofficially" Obese people, heavy drinkers and smokers are generally given short-shrift in regards to access and better treatment. The best treatment goes to the very young and the very old, as it should be.
I have personal experience of the families of those in the medical profession Que jumping to get access to facilities and having a better experience in general.
At the end of the day those at the sharp-end of medical practice i.e the staff at accident and emergency will "weigh you up" and decide by your attitude how best to treat and interact with you.

Answer 5

British National Health Service care is the same for all social classes, those who are unemployed or have a chronically classed illness such as diabetes and children do not pay for medicines, while others have to pay over £6 per item.

Answer 6

I was born into a very working class English family. Through luck and migration I was educated at a private school.
I now consider myself middle class.
I get very upset with people who argue that class is about where you are born. Class is how you act.
If you have good manners and are well spoken, treating people with respect, you will get better service.
My attitude has gotten me through many scrapes with the authorities.
See how far an arrogant 'lord' gets when he goes to reception at an NHS A&E - about as much as a lager lout with a beer bottle wound to the head.
Poor areas however, do get less money spent on them. Blame the government for pandering to people who can give them things. Not the people for demanding good service, all classes have the same demands - it's the government who differentiates.

Answer 7

I think everyone does get equal health care, but I have heard that some hospitals in smaller towns or cities are not getting as much funding as others. Personally I think it should depend more on wealth, I think that if you pay your taxes then you should get it free, and if you don't (for an avoidable reason, I wouldn't make the disabled or elderly pay, that would be silly) then you should have to fork out for health care.

Answer 8

I think health and social care is anything but equal. Seems to me that those who shout the loudest (or have others do it for them if they`re unable) get a better service.
Social class makes a difference too. If you dont know something is available you wont ask for it.

Answer 9

i could be wrong but infant mortality, dental health are more to do with lifestyle within the diff rent classes and what you can afford. i.e. good food, shelter and standard of living.

the higher up the scale (wealth wise) you go your question becomes null and void as those from the 'elite' generally use private medicine and health care.

Answer 10

I think that geography is the main selector. I live in a beautiful county, a place which is very pleasant to live in, consequently we have lots of doctors and specialist,consultants and other medical workers. I am not opposed to people who have private medical insurance because, the specialists only see them when they are not working doing their N.H.S. work. Also the private patients save lot of expense to the N.H.S as they pay for what they could get for free and leave beds free for other patients.