A lot of people don’t seem to have noticed but, in recent years, the grand experiments in bureaucratic medicine are coming apart at the seams. Nearest home, it was the Canadian Health Care system that lost its luster. Despite paying nearly half their incomes in taxes, and as much as 40 percent of each tax dollar on health care, many Canadian experts have recognized that their health care system’s in a state of crisis.
Now, top officials of the British National Health Service, often held out as an example of the kind of socialized medicine America should adopt, have acknowledged that they have similar problems. One in eight National Health Service hospital patients has to wait more than a year for treatment. Thirty percent wait more than 30 weeks. The poorest Americans are getting far better service than that.
The Mama's own experience with the British NHS has been horrible. My grandmother, then in her late 70's, was hospitalized after a bad fall requiring surgery. I tried to call her to cheer her up. When I reached the nurses station on her floor I was told I couldn't talk to her.
"Why not?"
"Because she isn't in a room."
"You mean she went home?"
"No. We're a bit crowded here. We had to put her in the passageway."
"The what?"
"Between the rooms."
"In a bed?"
"Well of course. What else would she be in?"
"Why can't I speak to her?"
"There's no phone out there."
"Can't you take it over to her?"
"It won't reach."
"When will she be in a room?"
"Not likely she will be. It's very crowded here."
Naturally, she developed a post-surgical infection while in the hospital. Other family experiences with the NHS have been just as bad. In fact, except for childbirth, I don't think there has been a good experience.
If we are too quick to litigate here, and we are, being reasonably free from litigation has done nothing to improve bedside manners or service of healthcare providers in the UK.
And for those who think the Canadian system would be better than what we have, here's a link found in Fred's comments: http://www.onthefencefilms.com/video/deadmeat/ Watch the whole thing.
