robin1234

I notice that from the British perspective, articles like this sound apocalyptic and scary. From an American perspective, the future of healthcare in the UK sounds pretty safe and manageable. Healthcare spending in the UK is currently 6.4% of GDP. So there is a long way to go till things get as bad as the US. Then in the UK there is the single payer system and the healthcare infrastructure in place, neither of which will ever remotely be achieved in the US. For instance in the US there is over provision in cities, suburbs and wealthy areas, and chronic under provision in huge areas that are poor.

Some political chutzpah required, but introduce reasonable levels of copays for doctor visits and some services. Also, I realise that "death panels" is an emotive and simplistic concept. But I think in the UK, as opposed to US, the idea of tapering off unrealistic procedures towards the end of life is acceptable to an extent.

Further, the way reasonably priced private health insurance fits in with the NHS seems like a success story in the UK (compared to US and Canada.)

scrubbedexpat099

I do not believe Healthcare spending is 6.4% of GDP, it was a lot more than that many years ago.

Just read the comments and this is the Torygraph remember. I am trying to remember where I read this, could have been on here, that as a rule people are much more highly developed in communication than they are in mathematics. The comments prove this.

There are very similar articles in the Guardian every now and then, even more illogical reaction as you might expect.

Nothing of consequence will happen, as it will not in the US, has to go bang first.

MidwestBob

Mixed feelings on this one.
My experience as a user of US healthcare is mostly good to excellent (at a price)
My experience of the UK NHS was mostly bad to adequate. My father died on an operating table for a routine operation without adequate explanation. My mother had 3 heart operations, two of which were to fix botched earlier attempts and my wife died of ovarian cancer after being misdiagnosed for years.
So the World Greatest healthcare system may be a bit frayed at the edges imho
I also have worked in healthcare in the UK. I know of 3 cases where clinicians were practicing without qualification and reported it. 2 are still practicing. It is almost impossible to verify qualifications because of EU regulations and the Data Protection Act. Even for those who are qualified it is hard to find a review of their record.
In the USA I can find just about everything I want to know about a doctor before I CHOOSE who to go and see.

steveq

It's a religion, remember, it isn't true, but people believe it.

scrubbedexpat099

Some people do, quite interesting though.

WEBlue

This is true. And was something of a surprise to us. I've mentioned before that we live in an area of the US that isn't over-endowed with medical services, so we've had trouble finding a local GP/internist to sign on with.

In fact, only one nearby is registering any new patients. We started the process some time ago to get on his list, but one day I happened to put his name into a search, and a LOT of complaints came up on the rate-your-doc sites--made us think twice. Now we're signed on with a GP quite a bit farther away but whose reviews are benign.

I don't know how trustworthy those review sites are, but who needs more stress when the process of dealing with health issues is fraught enough in this country?

lizzyq

After spending 9.5 hours in an NHS hospital with my MIL yesterday waiting for a planned blood transfusion to be initiated, together with some other procedures which did happen in a timely fashion, my feelings on the NHS are pretty mixed.

The personal care on the admittance ward was fairly grim, but the actual clinical interventions were generally excellent. The main problem seemed to be a lack of joined up thinking and nobody really "owning" my MIL's case.

Very much a curate's egg of a situation. Would it be better under another payment system? Who knows?

Michael

According to the World Bank it was 9.4% of GDP in 2012.

Health expenditure, total (% of GDP) | Data | Table

robin1234

Yes, this figure seems to be confirmed by UK Government figures quoted in a different Guardian article, indicating that healthcare spending rose from 6.4% of GDP to 9.6%, 1996 to 2010. Then I believe the percent fell a bit as the economy grew ...

So not sure where the original Grauniad figure of 6.4 came from.