That is so wrong. The NHS is simply the best health care system in the world bar none. Nothing comes close to it. France might have better facilities and shorter waiting lists but most people in France have costly private (une Mutuelles) insurance on top of the state provision. As for USA, if you want to break up the NHS and turn us into another USA you must out of your mind.
Hmmmm.... The NHS is appallingly poorly managed and directed. It's one of the finest in the world for dealing with trauma (A&E, Heart attack etc), but away from that it's not even a 3rd rate system. The care is good on the whole, but the funding regime doesn't allow for anything recognisable in terms of efficiency. This isn't the fault of the front line medics, or even the hospital managers. No, the root issue is much deeper. I'll give you an example:
Sleep Apnoea. Can be life threatening, but generally a relatively stable long term condition. Treatment frequently produces very marked improvement in the quality of life of the patient, mostly in their waking day. They tend not to care that they snore heavily!
Private treatment schedule - overnight in a centre where monitoring is performed to ascertain the condition is present. Assuming it is and it's moderate/severe, the patient is woken, given a CPAP device (positive pressure airflow pump) and allowed to go back to sleep. In the morning, findings are discussed, and if appropriate the patient sent home with the machine and a smile. Takes 12 hours or so... I've over-simplified it, but the timescale is correct.
NHS treatment schedule - GP sorts an appointment in the sleep apnoea clinic (wait several weeks). Overnight stay where monitoring is performed to ascertain the condition is present. Patient sent home in the morning, pending consideration of the results. Letter sent to GP after a few weeks, patient visits GP, agrees to follow-up at clinic. Patient visits clinic after a few weeks (wait for appointment again). Is told they have sleep apnoea, and to make an appointment to be fitted up with a CPAP machine. After a few weeks, the patient visits clinic again, gets the CPAP and goes home. Takes around 6 months.... and much more face-time with the clinicians.
Best part is, throughout all that nonsense, the main players are very probably one and the same person, and the final position is identical. Have a think about which one is the most efficient and costs least, then consider which one we are all paying for through our various taxes.
No, the NHS is not a world class organisation, once you move away from the trauma side. They are rewarded for treating critical patients, but there's no reward mechanism for treating anyone else. There's not much interest in saving money either, as the people who do the 'saving' are merely inconvenienced by it, not rewarded with any kind of benefit. In contrast, I'd not want to have BUPA or similar looking after RTA victims either - it's horses for courses.
