Recent NHS commentary
I suppose it was inevitable that opponents of health care reform in the US would turn on the NHS in an attempt to use it as a negative example, to suit their needs, since it is the most obvious example for them but the "lies, damned lies, and statistics" in use obscure the importance of having universal basic healthcare. There is, for me at any rate, one important thing to remember about my country's healthcare system:
Without the NHS, I would most likely be dead.
As a diabetic, I have a chronic medical condition which requires a constant basic level of medical treatment in order to prevent me from dying from the condition's effects. I'm not a member of a rich family, so if the NHS wasn't around, we would struggle to obtain such treatment and without the annual flu vaccinations, the chances of my making it through the winter on my compromised immune system would be fairly slim and let's not even talk about swine flu.
Every day I survive is in more than small part thanks to the National Health Service. It certainly isn't perfect but it's also certainly better to have it than not to and I still haven't yet heard a suggested replacement that wouldn't put my life at greater risk than it is now.
Without the NHS, I would most likely be dead.
As a diabetic, I have a chronic medical condition which requires a constant basic level of medical treatment in order to prevent me from dying from the condition's effects. I'm not a member of a rich family, so if the NHS wasn't around, we would struggle to obtain such treatment and without the annual flu vaccinations, the chances of my making it through the winter on my compromised immune system would be fairly slim and let's not even talk about swine flu.
Every day I survive is in more than small part thanks to the National Health Service. It certainly isn't perfect but it's also certainly better to have it than not to and I still haven't yet heard a suggested replacement that wouldn't put my life at greater risk than it is now.