Posted on 17/08/2009 at 13:44 by Gary Wright Group Editor Midweeks
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There's a lot of talk this week about the National Health Service as the Americans review their own healthcare policies in a determined effort to improve things for the poor.
Naturally most of us don't like those nasty Yanks criticising our wonderful healthcare system... even though they're probably right.
Unfortunately some Americans think that the way the NHS in Britain puts people on waiting lists for treatment - for example, when they have cancer - is not the right way to do it.
For some reason they believe that if you have cancer then you should start being treated immediately.
Those impatient Americans eh? They want it all.
But the real problem has been how we deal with the criticism in this country.
Obviously our American friends are in the main correct and we have shown for years in Britain that we are incapable of changing the NHS in any meaningful way.
But on TV and in newspapers politicians from all parties are falling over themselves to say how much we love the NHS and how brilliant it is.
Gordon Brown, and his wife, even felt inspired to say so on Twitter (which is some sort of blogging site for self-obsessed writers with even shorter attention spans than their readers, apparently).
But the real issue with the NHS remains that no matter how poor it is in certain areas, every political party needs the support of its workers.
The NHS is the biggest employer in Britain.
Fact.
So, any politician who suggests cuts, job losses or changes, had better beware.
In the seventies I remember Alan Whicker interviewing a Brit who was working as a doctor in the USA. I was disturbed to hear the man describe the NHS as “good first aid”.
It stuck with me and I guess I still believe it’s true.
Like many public sector employers, the NHS is overstaffed. I sat waiting for a 9am appointment the other week, watching the number of admin workers chattering away and gossiping in corridors.
Earlier this year I watched my son suffer at the hands of the NHS with an eye infection, wrongly diagnosed three times by GPs, that has left him unnecessarily scarred and then sampled the way hospitals rely on parents to help administer treatment to hospitalised children (I’m told it’s the same for the elderly but I have no experience of that).
But in Britain I fear we are stuck with what we have. Suggestions on a postcard to the Prime Minister – actually don’t bother, might as well send it straight to Cameron.
I am interested in how the USA is dealing with Swine Flu as well.
Unlike most of Europe, the Americans are suffering as badly as we are but I bet they are not simply letting people call up to be diagnosed on the phone like we are in Britain.
That can’t inspire confidence either can it?
Firstly, and again I know this from experience, doctors will use Swine Flu as an easy diagnosis for any virus-like symptoms, which must mess up the figures.
But mainly it is a bit too easy to confuse Swine Flu with some far more serious illnesses, like Legionaires’ disease, meningitis and even tonsillitis, all of which have killed after being misdiagnosed.
You couldn’t risk that in the USA: a patient sent packing with Tamiflu who then died from meningitis would ensure a legion of lawyers on your case.
Incidentally, 49 people in Britain have died from Swine Flu so far – every year 4,000 people die from ordinary flu in Britain, so try to keep a sense of proportion.