Defending State Funded Universal Health Care

[TheBigotBasher]

Republicans like to call Universal Health Care "Socialised medicine". They quote horror stories of having to wait months for operations and care being rationed by cost and not medical need.

I am not a Socialist; I am a UK Conservative who opposes the New Labor Government for mnay reasons. However in the UK we discuss how to better manage our "National Health Service", not whether or not we should have one.

The NHS is now 60 years old, born on 4 July 1948. The NHS was the first free at the point of use healthcare system, provided on the basis of citizenship rather than the payment of fees or insurance premiums. After half a century of care, most Britons still consider the NHS to have been an outstanding success.

Life in the 30s and 40s was tough. Every year, thousands died of infectious diseases like pneumonia, meningitis, tuberculosis, diphtheria, and polio.

Infant mortality rates stood at 5%

Dentistry was awful and opticians unheard of for the poorest in society.

It is difficult to overstate the impact of the introduction of the National Health Service (NHS). Although medical science was still at a basic stage, the NHS for the first time provided decent healthcare for all - and, at a stroke, transformed the lives of millions.

In the UK no one waits more than 24 hours to see a Doctor for a non emergency appointment
No one waits more than 18 weeks for a non emergency operation and almost all are carried out within 3 weeks.
Over 99% of suspected cancer patients are seen by a specialist within two weeks of being referred by their GP, and over 99% of cancer patients start their treatment within a month of diagnosis.
Drugs for cancer patients are paid for out of taxation.

# By March 2009 every non-emergency patient will be screened for MRSA.
# Since April 2008 all patients have been able to choose from any hospital provider in England that meets NHS standards and costs, giving patients more control and helping to drive up standards.

The cost - much much less than the US and we achieve far more.





If after all of that we have a thriving Private Health Care System as well, that meets and exceeds the services provided by the best of the US providers at a much much lower cost. We have a true mixed economy in health that works far better than Republicans would have you believe.