health care in UK and Canada

[GlasseyeUK]

The Uk National Health service, is inherantly a good idea, however like most government inititives soon gets bogged down by the beaucracy that exists, thats where most of the funding seems to have disappeared. Too many middle managers and not enough spent on the front line workers, i.e the nurses

In my job I work very closely with the Health services, there are often delays for urgent treatment, and for ER stuff, well be prepared for a long long wait lol. However when comparing this to what friends of mine have said about healthcare in the US, where they have held off on treatment because they haven't worked long enough to get healthcare insurance etc, or they are not able to afford the costs of medication then I am not too sure, about the advantages.

Going to the Doctors is always a risky experience of coming away with a cold or worse, as I agree with the post above too many people feeling slightly icky only to be told to go to the pharmacist and buy some over the counter meds.

In regards to the post about Germany, as far as I am aware from one of my old housemates, the health service is free, but also Germany is one of the highest taxed countries and that is what funds an efficient and professional service.

 

[Lac3y]

lol, glasseye, do you like Red Dwarf? I think it's the funniest TV show ever made!

"Stoke me a clipper, I'll be back for Christmas"

 

[Andy87]

thanks guys for your input, i have just always heard people talking in america about how in the UK they get free healthcare and yadayada and these people act like it is so great, so i just wanted to get an idea of what it is like. in america, healthcare costs are rising very rapidly, mainly because the demand for healthcare is about to go through the roof, when our "baby boomer" generation starts to retire. something will need to happen because many people of the baby boomer generation have not saved very much for retirement and will mainly be working and living off of social security but anyway, thanks for your input.

 

[Hackslayer]

this is a question for people who live in the UK and canada. i live in america and was talking to my aunt and she said that government provided healthcare is not as good as it seems to be. she said that you typically have to wait several weeks to get to see a doctor. this just does not sound right to me. could anyone let me know what it is like? thanks

sorry thats in america too its called medical

 

[root]

this is a question for people who live in the UK and canada. i live in america and was talking to my aunt and she said that government provided healthcare is not as good as it seems to be. she said that you typically have to wait several weeks to get to see a doctor. this just does not sound right to me. could anyone let me know what it is like? thanks

This is a question for all those who live in the US, I neard that there is no national health care service, and that if your life is in danger you have to go to a hospital, but then have to pay for treatment,
I heard that you can get medical insurance to take care of this, but sometime medical insurance might not cover the cost of the treatments, or may even be excluded.
I hear that some people are not able to afford medical insurances and hence go without health care and can die as a result... this just does not sound right to me, could anyone know what it is like? thanks.


you see there are two sides to ever coin...


In same parts of the UK healthcare is very good, and opperations can be seen and dealt with on an almost immediate basis. the problem with the long waits, is mostly caused by the waiting lists,
people (in general) are not very good planners, and so when people have an opperation scheduled for six months away some people tend to forget, and then cancel at the last minute, this leaves nothing but paperwork, and a surgon sitting idle. it's normally too late to re-schedule someone else for the slot. and so everyone has to wait.

On the whole though the healthcare service, (or at least the idea of it) does work rather well...