What can you tell us Yanks about Healthcare in the UK

And it's also bullshit.

Just what is it about the existence of "poor people" (and there are precious few really poor people in this country - here it means not being able to afford a second tv) that makes it acceptable that those who live in Tower Hamlets are denied treatments or drugs that are available to those who live in Shropshire?

Is it really bullshit? Bit harsh. Some some very clear and true points were made in the above post. Bullshit? Really? I'm American and I live here in the UK with indefinite leave to remain. I have experienced both ends of the spectrum and I can, in no way see the benefit of a profit driven private system, when the masses can't afford to take part in it.

I get where your coming at with the above comment about how many truly "poor" people there are and what constitutes being poor, but it's all relative. No we don't have a ton of truly third world poor people, who are starving on the street, we should be thankful for that. But we do have a huge class of people that are just barely getting by "the working poor". Relative to the huge amount of wealth that our western society has, these people are poor! In the US there are many many people who work their butts off many hours and days a week and bring home so little money they have to choose whether they can eat or buy medicine for their children. That sucks and as far as I am concerned that is poverty. The same class of people exist here in the UK and the rest of Europe, The difference being, that Europeans have the piece of mind that they will be taken care of no matter what their income. I have a feeling I might have missed the point you were making a little bit? If so feel free to correct me.

There is a downside I see to having the NHS so readily accessible. People seem to go to the A&E or to their GPs for some of the most rediculous things. I was Just in The A&E the other night with my girlfriend and we noticed the huge amount of people there who had little cuts on their hands or heads, people with colds or flu etc. WTF Is up with that? We had a conversation with the doctor that attended to us about this and she confirmed that a ton of people litterally come in to A&E to have a plaster put on a finger or other simple things like this! This is a serious case of HTFU! Americans are so deathly afraid of having to pay for medical bills, we need to be near death before we even think about the words "Doctor" or "Hospital". A simple visit to the ER in the US for a bump on the head can run into the $1,000s depending on wheather the doctor actualy touches you or not.

The NHS is indeed massively overburdened, and the above example is just a small one. Needless to say it needs to be fixed, It is suffering massively due to burocracy and politics. No matter what happens or what form the future of Health care takes in the UK, it needs to be accessable and easily available to everyone that needs it no matter what their income.