What can you tell us Yanks about Healthcare in the UK

Not sure how relevant this is as it is comparing my experience of privatevs public service in England. I broke my leg pretty badly a few years ago and metal got screwed to my leg in thanks to the NHS then taken out a year later courtesy of Bupa. The level of care was almost the same in both (apart from a monumental fuck up on pain control on one instance by the NHS), the people treating me were the same (some working for both the NHS and Bupa), the only big difference between the two services was the waiting around. When being treated by the NHS there was a lot of waiting around and uncertainty when I would be seen by doctors, surgeons etc. Compared to private when if they said they'd be there at 1pm then they would be there bang on 1pm.

If the same doctors were treating you on both plans why would the adherence to scheduling change?