Is the NHS really that bad?
I don't know how many of us can say we have never complained or been irritated by either the care we receive or the length of time we have to wait to be seen or receive treatment, I know I cant.
Last night, I watched a documentary and there was something in it that made me think an awful lot since then as to just how lucky we all are to live in the UK.
It was based in the States and there was a lady who was in her 40's, previously in good health but she fell and broke her ankle.
She needed surgery to repair the ankle but she did not have insurance and did not have the means to pay for the surgery.
Her boyfriend had no choice but to just take her home. She was completely immobile due to her badly broken ankle and through a sequence of events from that accident, she died.
It was thinking about that which made me realize just how lucky we actually are in this country. She did not live in a third world country, she lived in one of the richest countries in the world and one that brags about the state of the art medical care.
Can any one of us imagine falling and breaking an ankle and turning up in A & E and being refused the treatment we needed so that we would be able to walk again.
Oh, we all have to wait more than a week for our routine Dr's appointments but I know if I have ever needed urgent care, I have always got it when I needed it.
How many of us could imagine having an exacerbation and being refused a chest x ray or CT scan or any test or treatment because we cant afford to pay for them.
From my GP appointment about my shortness of breath, I had chest x ray and spirometry and had all that done and was diagnosed within 2 weeks and we also had new year in the middle of that.
Even my achilles problem, I went to the Dr's with it and I see the physio for diagnosis tomorrow, a total of 6 working days after my GP appointment. If I were in the US, if I didnt have insurance, I would be up the creek without a paddle.
How many of us, with our health problems are unable to work and therefore would not be able to afford insurance, that would mean we simply would not be treated.
It scared me that in 2013, a young woman ends up dead and for no other reason than she was left to rot because she did not have the money to pay to have her broken ankle operated on.
There are many faults with the NHS, sometimes serious mistakes are made and there are times that legitimate complaints should be made. I, in the past have made a complaint myself. Mistakes are made in the States too, probably just as many mistakes as are made in the UK
But on the whole, I consider myself lucky to live somewhere that no matter what is wrong with me, I will get the care I need and not what care I can afford.
I like our NHS, warts and all!
Kat
xxx