LittleGreyCat

My view of the NHS.

It is supposed to be a national system but it is just a loose conglomeration of different providers (still very much as it was when health care was first nationalised after the 2nd World War).

If you get a good, motivated, caring GP and there is a hospital fairly near with good standards then the care is outstanding. If you get a lax GP and a poor hospital then the care is appalling. So two people in different areas will have a completely different experience of the NHS.

Good GPs seem to have a direct line to good consultants in the hospitals, and can work wonders at short notice.

In other cases, one look at the waiting times and it is obvious that private funding is required (quite often getting the same consultants).

I suspect that NZ may well be the same.

Much the same as any service industry. You can get ripped off by one garage and get outstanding service from another.

fiddler

True - but based on experience with the French medical system, the German medical system and the NZ system (limited) I believe that the NHS is a crumbling edifice delivering an increasingly deteriorating service sheltered by the 'free' tag and the BMA/NHS unions (Unite). Look at the NHS mis-diagnosis stats and the medical negligence stats for a start.

I don't pretend that cost isn't a problem in the NZ system, but by the time you get diagnosed in the UK your chances of being dead are high. Got macular degeneration, no sweat you have two eyes don't you.

This might sound like a rant, it isn't meant to be I just get frustrated at those too blinkered to see the state of the NHS and don't realise it cannot carry on as it is - but why should I care [/QUOTE]

I find it very interesting to read here about comparisons between NHS and NZ public health care. I am not in position to comment on any other health service other than NHS as I do not have the experience. I have now been working for 12 years in the NHS, 8 years as a junior doctor and 4 years now as Consultant. My wife, 4 years as junior doctor and 7 years as GP. Love the NHS but unless there is very serious investment which should have actually happened few years ago I cannot see it continuing in the current form. I am actually scared of falling ill and having to rely on NHS a feeling shared by most of my colleagues. Staff are highly skilled and provide very high quality service when you get to see them. Unmanageable work load, Waiting lists for treatments sometimes longer than 8 months, having to wait 2 weeks to see a GP for a routine appointment, shortage of beds, shortage of staff just to name a few will sour the experience for many as there is many a time no local private alternative in the speciality that I am serving. I did not want to go leave NHS and go private and hence have decided to experience working in a different public health service (NZ) for 5 years and then decide about future.

Kotare

Fiddler I hope you post on here in 12 months and give your opinion on the NZ system good or bad.

fiddler

Will do. I am under no illusion or will be arriving in search of Utopia. Hoping for some satisfaction at the end of the day.

Kotare

Just remember to bring a jersey and rain coat in July

fiddler

Will do. Thanks for the tip. It has been 4 seasons in one today here in Aberdeen. Bright sun shining with 3 degrees outside, hailstones and snow shower followed by rain and then the road closure due to ice.

scrubbedexpat094

Having worked and been a patient in both systems, on balance I prefer the NHS. I have had great and poor care in both. I've only been scared once and that was at "Not Sure Hospital" when I was linked up to a potassium drip that didn't go through a pump. Didn't sleep much that night I can tell you .

I do find quite a few doctors very paternalistic in NZ which shocked me when I first arrived. It took me 7 years to find a GP that I feel comfortable with here. It can be difficult to have an honest relationship with medical staff when in order to get a condition treated on ACC you have to lie. I've done this on more than one occasion to get x-rays/physio covered for long-term wear and tear problems. I hate having to do this but it's a case of living with the pain otherwise. I have just gone privately for treatment for bilateral bursitis of the hips, having put up with pain for a couple of years. It was getting so excruciating that I couldn't sleep properly with it in the end.

It took 4 years for them to diagnose me with a gastric ulcer and I ended up having private treatment for that to get the diagnosis.

I don't care about the nationality of those that treat me as long as they are properly qualified, competent and compassionate and I can understand what they are saying!

I fully support the junior doctors in the UK too. I'm appalled at what this Government is trying to do to the NHS. It makes me incredibly angry. I do think a charge should be levied to all for GP visits to stop the time-wasters and the no-shows.

BEVS - I thought this was about holiday destinations when I first read the title.