robin1234

No, it's the simple truth. It is chronically underfunded. It still works remarkably well (no doubt on the backs of underpaid, dedicated staff who go above and beyond the call of duty every day.)

SanDiegogirl

The article does not say that the parents could not have had the operation done privately in the UK. There was no mention of any government interference with the operation being carried out privately - only that an NHS trust hospital had stopped the procedure.

Going privately meant that the parents would have had to raise the money regardless of where it was carried out.

mrken30

Occasionally US hospitals/clinics have a lower ethic threshold for unnecessary procedures. If a consultant recommends against a procedure in the US, you can normally still find someone to do it. Same as for recommending drugs. In the UK it is not so easy to go against medical advice.

Bob

Gene therapies, abortions. All kinds of things that one might have to travel around for over here.

thinbrit

I'm not sure how you can gauge that when the figures are freely manipulated. Having experienced my grandmother waiting for a procedure for over 6 years. She would be put on the waiting list, and shortly before she was due for her appointment she would have the appointment cancelled and be put on a new waiting list. She was not deemed statistically to have received poor care because the metric was for each waiting list, and not the total 6 year wait. I'm suspect she was counted towards having met the target appointment wait in each instance. Incidentally, she died before having her cataracts addressed, living almost blind those 6 years. A sample size of 1 I agree, but clear indication that the way quality of care is measured is open to manipulation. Reminds me of the VA scandal that operated a similar scheme to manipulate the data.

scrubbedexpat099

I would imagine most of us have our NHS stories.

Giantaxe

Probably. Just as most of us have our insurance stories.

mrken30

Like having treatment only to find out afterwards that it was not covered by insurance even thought you had called the insurance company prior.

SultanOfSwing

Do stories about successful treatments that didn't cost an arm and a leg count or do they not fit your bullshit right wing narrative?

dc koop

I wonder how many people who fell for Trump's bullshit are now worrying about the future of their ObamaCare coverage?

Former Lancastrian

Well if their future under ObamaCare coverage is worse then you can hardly blame Trump for it.
Lets face it the US healthcare system is somewhat of a mess compared to the UK, Canada, Australia and a few other places.
Trump said he would repeal it but it never even got to the vote. Now Im not suggesting his plan was any better but if people start complaining about ObamaCoverage then how can Trump be blamed?

robin1234

He can be blamed for being an incompetent nitwit. Obama and his congressional colleagues used a huge amount of time, skill and effort to get their congressional ducks in a row, twisted arms, had late night meetings etc. Result - they got the ACA enacted into law. Trump is a lazy, stupid man who knows nothing about Congress, it's procedures, or the personalities involved. So he failed to get his ducks in a row. I assume he didn't even know who his ducks were.

Leslie

He has no ducks!! He's a duckless president! He only has pigs. Pigs at the trough. We saw this when they wrote that joke of a Muslim ban. Twice. Trump is too lazy to formulate his own Executive Orders and too pig stupid to realize that his entourage is just as incompetent as he is.

He did the same thing with healthcare. The White House has nobody who can write policy so he let Paul Ryan run with the ball. That was the happiest week of Ryan's life. He has a rubber stamp from the POTUS and Republican control of both houses ... he was peeing with glee until ... reality set in. The Republicans are still as fractured as they ever were, the president doesn't really give a shit and Trump's base hates Ryan. Whoopsie.

DC is absolutely swimming with competent policy people. Even the lowliest of congressman has staffers than can draw up policy. Trump should have had his healthcare plan written long before the election was over. But yeah.

scrubbedexpat099

Huh?

Fortunately I have had nothing significant, but have seen enough with my Parents and Grandparents to know there are major issues and I had friends working in the system and heard many OMG stories.

Lion in Winter

The NHS has saved my BIL's life twice now.

And I think we may be overlooking the point that the whole spend all retirement savings and go into debt thing that this family did is thenorm in this country if you cannot afford insurance or good insurance. Hence the whole Obamacare concept, a poor substitute for national health but better than nothing. The properly funded European systems are extremely good. Turning illness and disease into a rationed, for profit business is uncivilised. It's all very well if you are comfortably off, but if you aren't, not so much.