Lothianlad

That is the great advantage the UK has over the USA....two systems operating side by side.....for emergencies and diagnosed serious conditions the NHS is considered wonderful by most people who have had need for its services...a careful assessment of order of priority appears to be quite effective in such cases. Waiting lists (which, according to official sources, are becoming shorter) for non urgent treatment are more or less routine in the NHS although an uncle of mine had an operation for a macular eye condition just 36 hours after he had first consulted his GP, requiring an overnight stay in hospital; he later had to wait just two weeks for a cataract operation (local anaesthetic) and less than two months later had a similar operation on his other eye.....his eyesight is now greatly improved.

Of course, if we so choose, we in the UK can take out private medical care covered by insurance (which, as far as I can tell, is less daunting, less of a minefield of bureaucracy, than medfical insurance cover is in the USA) and seek treatment, if required, in a private hospital.

I know of people who do have private medical insurance cover yet still avail themselves of the services offered by the NHS, presumably for less serious conditions.

I have decided, at the ripe old age of 30 (well, come 7 April) to take out private medical insurance cover but so far I have only had to have hospital treatment once courtesy of our local NHS Trust and the statutory monthly deducations from my salary - two days in dock for a sporting injury to my collar bone....I must say I quite enjoyed the experience and the food wasn't anything like as crappy as I was told it would be, and the nurses and doctors were great.

londonights

totally agree with what you say