If the NHS is so poor why are people going private when the surgeons ect all work in hospitals dosnt make sense to me
I think the point that's often missed is that it is not necessarily the medical professionals that are the problem, but the system itself.
There is generally far too much "organisational " workers, and too few medical staff in any national service.
I think that you can separate and criticise either element if you wish.
The NHS is an ideal is a fantastic idea, the problem is you have too many civil servants running it.
As an outsider looking in, I can see the many brilliant things the NHS stands for - free at point of contact medical care, both in the community and in hospitals, the next to free prescriptions (compare to our system, you may take back some if your complaints), etc.
If I wish to go to a GP, I have to pay (unless I have a medical card which is means tested) as all our GPs are self employed business men and women. If I wish to visit a hospital, i must be referred by a GP, or attend an emergency department, which sets me back €115.
Another big problem is the North-South divide. It is easily provable that if you are in the southern region, you will be a lot happier with the service as most of the best facilities are based around the major population point (London and environs), whereas further north suffers from a lack of well funded high population regions.(information from a brother in law who has a huge practice in the London region)
Your NHS does not come "free" per se, it is funded directly from your exchequer, so gives the end user a "free" experience.
The alternatives are, as i see it,
1. you admit there are problems with the NHS, and you fix it.
2. You go with a private healthcare system similar to the US which leaves those in poorly paid jobs at a specific disadvantage.(private insurance)
3. You look at the nordic countries model, which is often held up as utopia - but that requires a huge investment from taxes, and their income tax rates are extremely high.
If you want an inclusive, cradle to the grave system, it would seem that the first is your option.
It's not the staff that are below par ( though many are due to the protections afforded to public sector workers) but the system they operate in.
Price is hidden at all stages so we have over subscribed, poor quality services.
There is no incentive for improvement, users have no market power.
Simply issuing vouchers that could be spent in competing private institutions would make a huge improvement in provision and service.
The market in things like laser eye surgery shows how consumer power can drive down cost and ramp up quality in health products.
We should not stand for a mediocre health service
I could have said all I did in your much shorter reply lol
