The NHS

"I wouldn't wish it on anyone", "death panels", "6 month waiting lists", " denied the test that would have saved her life" are just some of the choice phrases used to describe the NHS in a week when U.S. politics overflowed into British domestic issues. Unsurprisingly the left has leapt enthusiastically to the defence of the NHS and used it as an opportunity to bash any Tory who was unwise enough to comment on the issue. However, in the middle of this (largely online) hysteria it is worth looking at truth behind the sound bites.

Firstly, as a percentage of GDP us Brits spend roughly half as much as our American counterparts on Health Care and we are expected, at birth, to live for a year longer. GREAT, role out the red carpet and step forward the National Heal......No, not quite. The percentage of GDP statistic in the US is pushed up for two reasons: yes, private health care with for profit organisations in the driving seat is more expense, but Americans, as a population, live unhealthier lives and therefore need more health care. Similarly the life expectancy is pushed down in America due to poor lifestyle choices, a higher murder rate and differential life expectancies in their large Hispanic and Black populations.

The idea that "death panels" exist in the NHS is obviously ridiculous. What was being alluded to here was the role of the National Institute of Clinical Excellence that decides what treatments are available on the Health Service. NICE makes judgements about the capacity of a treatment to lengthen the life of a sick person and the quality of life they will experience during that time. And, yes they do have to set a maximal limit per six months of life per person that can be spent on any treatment. This is in part the reason why the very expensive breast cancer drug Anastrozole wasn't for a long period of time available to British sufferers, while being available to many Americans. Similarly, PAP tests or cervical smears are offered when a woman turns 21 to many Americans, while oddly for a Cancer that often strikes in the late teens and early 20's no until a British woman is 25. However, in any public sector organisation distribution of limited resources is vital and in the large part NICE to a very good job.

6 month waiting lists are a thing of the distant and wasteful past for the NHS. In the new era of choice and efficiency patients are seen much quicker and in the main by more specialised doctors. The newly competitive trust status that is offered to well performing health care regions is greatly speeding up and improving the quality of service, with patients increasingly being seen as stake-holders rather than statistics. For example, a person diagnosed with Cancer will see a specialist consultant within 14 days - no fail.

While there have been huge improvements, a huge amount of time and money is still wasted. Ask any NHS doctor, manager or consultant and they will all tell you that the NHS could and should do better. The junior doctors scandal 12 months ago is a prime example of a monolithic organisation trying poorly to adapt to changing times.

This blog is not arguing against the NHS. My professional and personal experience has allowed me to see that while there are limitations, these are small compared to many of the huge and life threatening issues experienced by users of many private health care systems. This coupled with my belief that the health of an individual should not be used for profit, leads me comfortably into the warm embrace of the NHS. But, outlined above are just some brief and limited issues that come hand in hand with a country using public health service. Issues that need to be discussed by all, including the British left who at the moment only seem willing to discuss how many different ways the NHS could walk on water.