NHS good or bad thing?

Question

Do you think it would be better for the uk to abolish NHS? Maybe we should take a leaf out of the united states of America's book and have a health insurance instead of paying extra taxes? would love to hear some views. thanks xxx

NHS = National Health Service

Answer 1

The definition of economics is the allocation of scarce resources. Either way you go, private or nationalized, someone goes "without". The difference is that in the USA, most people get to choose that which they go without. In Great Britain, you're taxed and then told what services you'll be provided. However, either way, nobody gets everything right away and some people never see the care they want or need.

Answer 2

Great question. As an American who spends a lot of time living and working in Britain, I figured that this question would be asked by someone looking to replace the US health care system with some like the NHS!

There is certainly a real dilemma on this issue. Many Americans would consider the lack of universal health care in the US to be one of the country's greatest problems. Many citizens have no health care whatsoever, and healthcare costs for everyone have exploded in the last 20 years. Why not nationalize healthcare then?

You provide the answer to that question: nationalized health care in any form is far from perfect. In general, the health care available in the US is *much* better than what is available through the NHS in Britain....*if* of course you have it. While most people would agree that everyone should have access to equal health care, in practice it is virtually impossible to achieve. Even in Britain, those who can afford it opt for better, private healthcare, but at the same time, NHS can't be abandoned without realizing a system, like that in the US, where a great many citizens have no healthcare coverage whatsoever.

Aside from these more cerebral concerns, there's always the question of paying for it. Nationalized healthcare is very, very, very expensive. If the US were to offer a similar program for all of its citizens, the national tax rate would increase 5, or even 10 percent. Private companies have had to deal with this issue for decades. Today Ford Motor Company spends more each year on the healthcare and pensions of its employees that it does on the steel for its products! For the vast majority of Americans, that simply is not acceptable, even a 5 percent tax hike would be seen as anathema, and doing it in the name of nationalized healthcare would be called socialism.

Sorry that I don't have a more definitive answer for you, but it's a very important and difficult question.

Answer 3

the fundamental point of the NHS is a very good idea, however in the REAL WORLD and with so many people using the system and not enough people paying in and shortages of docs, nurses and a million other factors, it is not working out to well is it?

The NHS should be free at its point of distribution and available when needed, instead of having huge waiting lists. After all is said and done i feel it is a good thing but the whole service needs overhauling so it actually works!!!!!.

Answer 4

The N.H.S. was good, because it was conceived for the People; no matter what station in life.

The N.H.S. is now for the Managers and Power Brokers.

It is strange but whenever any Organisation is hi-jacked by the men in suits, the thing takes a nose dive. Something else happens too, more Management equals less People that really do the job! (ie Nurses, Doctors etc). Higher Management money means less pay to where it should go.

Management have meetings about meetings, paper pyramids of power, and produce paper scaffolds for imaginary buildings.

I'm sorry, but throw unlimited funds from Insurance Companies in the pot, and you have richer Management and higher fees for Health Care, that invariably means higher premiums.

Fat Cats rule!.

Answer 5

Our NHS is envied all over the world.

I think if you asked the Americans which they would prefer,it would be an NHS service.

Ive been to lot of countries abroad that dont have anything like it and met people who are really poorly and not getting any treatment,simply because they cannot afford it.

Answer 6

good idea,sadly it will affect poor people inthe uk if you go down that avenue,i firmly believe companies are ripping of the nhs .the nhs is supposed to be free to all,but also competing against private medi care.doctors and consultants ,nurses have probably been trained by the nhs.private medi care should pay the nhs compensation for taking highly skilled staff from OUR nhs.

Answer 7

It was the best in the World , but since Blair and his Loonies have allowed Millions of Scrounging Immigrants to come Here for Free Treatment , and Appointed moronic Clipboard Carriers ,Penpushers and so called Managers, sacked Hundreds of Doctors and Nurses , wasted Billions of Taxpayers Money , The N H S has gone the same way of as the rest of the United Kingdom , As directed by Blairs Barmy Army = KNACKERED .

Answer 8

The NHS saved my life when I had a terrible accident, I received excelling medical care. I also had both my children in NHS hospitals and can't complain there either.

Answer 9

They do not understand it. The NHS belongs to the people of this country. They pay for it just as their fathers and grandfathers did. Even though it has it's problems there are more people in this land who have good experiences of it than there are those who have found it to be lacking in any way at all. The problems are caused by wastage of funds and poor decision making by the think-tanks and quangos that are set up by the government. If all that was sorted out then once again the British health service would be the best in the world. We have totally free medications for children, the elderly and those with certain medical conditions. Visits to your family doctor, all hospital consultations, treatment, operations intensive care, home visits by district nurses, pre and ante natal care, everyone has the right to all this and it's all free. Everyone is eligible, everyone gets seen by the same doctors nurses and surgeons. The only time you need to pay for hospitalisation is when you do not want to wait. My husband was offered non-urgent surgery with a wait of 2 months, he decided not to wait and elected to go to a private hospital. the surgeon who operated on him had operated on him in an NHS hospital in an emergency situation previously. Same surgeon different hospital. The cost of the private surgery £2260 + £90 consultation fee. 1 night stay in hospital. The emergency surgery. 14 days in hospital, 8 days of which were in intensive care. 1 to 1 nursing, totally free. We never met an uncaring, incompetent doctor or nurse in either of our experiences. In fact most of them went out of their way to be the opposite. I would like to discuss the pros and cons of the NHS with any one of the Republicans you mention. I wish I could. The US should be copying it, not castigating it. EDIT. Further to Joe's answer, we in Britain pay for our NHS with National Insurance Contributions. not taxes. These payments cover NHS treatment, retirement pension and unemployment benefits. You have to have paid NI contributions to receive the last 2 benefits but the NHS is there for all regardless of contributions. Also the contributions are far less than they would be if we were to pay a private company for the same benefits. We all, just like people in other countries moan about the taxes we have to pay, but never about the NI payments. We only complain about how the government spend that money. We even get people coming here from other countries (sometimes referred to as health tourists!) to take advantage of our generous system, not always from 3rd world countries either. It has been know for people from US and Canada to come here, be hospitalised, treated and then leave -- rightly or wrongly -- without paying.

Answer 10

i come from a country where you pay for doctors/dentists etc etc, even if you have medical aid it is very expensive.
so i think the NHS is good thing, yes it has it's ups and downs, but personally i have never had an issue with it.

could you imagine paying £70 just to see the doc, and then still have to pay more than that for medication??