As an Australian, I’ve always taken for granted the fact that at home I have 24-hour access to the best medical care available as part of real universal medical cover. After moving to London last year, all I’ve heard in the news non-stop is about the dire state of the NHS, and after being severely sick twice in the span of two months, I know exactly why.

First of all, I learned that the only way to book an appointment at any NHS practice involves phoning in on the morning at exactly 8am - ludicrous. Why they can’t take appointments earlier is beyond me, but this specifically discriminates against anyone with a job… or a life. And if you don’t get a place because the lines are jammed by hundreds of people phoning in at the exact same moment, you’ll just have to put up with being however sick you are for another 24 hours.

Last week I was among the lucky few to get an appointment and arriving at the clinic five minutes before my scheduled appointment time, walked up to the receptionist to confirm my place. She looked down at a list, turned to me and said that I was sixth in line. I mean, I heard that the British love to queue, but this was ridiculous! As I looked around the waiting room I realised that I was the only person to be shocked by this system. Most of the other people were old, or poor, or had very young children. The waiting room was filled with people, all with the same tired yet desperate expression on their faces.

When my name was finally called (40 minutes after my appointment time) I was almost surprised. The doctor got straight to the point and asked for my symptoms, leaving any root causes of my illness completely to imagination, scribbled off a quick prescription for my swollen throat and migraine and almost indifferently asked if there was anything else I wanted. I felt as if I was on some kind of factory production line the whole time. And then I remembered the other twenty people still in the waiting room and it was hard to be mad or feel cynical. Suddenly felt compassion for the doctor. I almost wanted to ask if there was any way I could help her. Four doctors serving at least 100 patients a day, you do the math.

In this 2002, the Health Editor of The Observer Anthony Brown, and Matthew Young from the Adam Smith Institute released a report entitled “NHS Reform - Towards Consensus,” calling for reforms. These included full managerial freedom and competing social insurance for all, independent for the government, ensuring affordable, quality health-care based on how much you earn. They believe that their solutions to the problems with current system could be phased in within five years. It has become clear that the real issues with the healthcare system lie in a struggle for managerial and funding control, and who ultimately collects on healthcare - government or private health insurers.

However, beyond the shortcomings of the current system, expansion of the public health system seems more like a monument to the wider failures of the social services system than a solution to the problem. Why are there so many people struggling to stay healthy? Why is it so hard for people to eat right and live well in one of the most developed countries in the world? We might not have as high a GDP, but that means nothing when the poverty line and standard of living are so low that universal health care becomes a band-aid.

Many argue that at least the NHS is in better shape than the United States Medicare, but being best of a bad bunch seems like a pathetic outlook to me, and nothing to be proud of. Comparing the NHS to a system that provides a lesser quality of care to people of lower income, and charging excessive fees for drugs and treatment even to those with chronic illness is setting the bar a little low. At least the impending US and UK general elections will put the issues on the political hot-plate as in both countries healthcare is turning out to be the defining difference between candidates for swing votes.

Comment
Science