This after I had to suffer through my economics professor singing the praises of British and Canadian socialized medicine. Don't worry, I got up and left the class after a few minutes. I couldn't take it any longer.
Bill would still be waiting in line for his Triple Bypass and Neutering.
Good catch, Stoat! This is exactly what the liberals want for the U.S., the country which, by the way, foreigners flee to when they need REAL medical treatment! Socialized medicine is a complete failure. Whoda thunk?
BTW, folks: STOAT IS A GREAT AMERICAN!
Thank God this young man was given antibiotics, and eventually got medical care. I wonder though if he will make it.
and why MUM, do you think there is a shortage??
and what in the world is a Job Seeker's Allowance???
In the US there are for-profit places where you can get them as a walk-in.
DISCUSS????? CONCERNS?????
We should model our health care system after theirs. < /hitlery imitation >
Having said that, north Wales is a great place, and when I was last there, when my friend's sister was getting married last year, I had a wonderful time and experienced none of the anti-Americanism I would have expected in London or other "enlightened" places.
We should have all are best muscians to a LIVE AID concert to help these poor third world nations.
"Peter was not registered with an NHS dentist when he developed raging toothache."
Which suggests he hasn't seen a dentist in years. Perhaps his mother or father should have registered him with one in the first place?
>>>" But he was quoted a total of £121 which he could not afford on his Jobseeker’s Allowance."
Thanks Mom, Thanks Dad...
Couldn't some family member scrap up 200 bucks for this?
Don't these people work?
Looks like there's more broken than their socialized medical system.
Hoppy
BTTT
It is becoming increasingly rare however that they join the NHS. Many are now completely private.
Why get £15 (about $30) for an extraction, which does not meet your overhead? Also the quality of NHS-style dentistry standards is a world-wide joke. "British teeth" is a common laugh-line for comedians around the world. Many dentists in Britain are ashamed to work for the horrific NHS bureaucracy and its third world requirements.
£121 (about $250, let us say) is the private rate. This is still a bargain. It cost me triple that for an extraction several years ago.
Socialized medicine is not the problem here, as I see it; stupidity, lack of follow through, and lack of problem-solving skills on the part of the "victim" and his family are.
A. 121 pounds that he can't afford to have it pulled, but mum & da, will run him all over the country for several days, rather than make an arrangement for repayment?
B. After two hours, Mumsy had to leave because of shoulder pain...but couldn't leave 19 YO Sonny at the hospital to contine waiting his turn?
C. He only tries to contact or see ONE dentist or clinic each day????
My wife just had a dental emergency. Neither dentist here in town could see her for a few days, but it still only took a few more calls to find someone about 30 miles away that could get her in, and our state has the LOWEST per-capita number of dentists in the contiguous 48.
It takes persistence, some honest explanations, and sometimes one must even do without 25-30 text messages/day, with the latest ringtone; and a nightly trip to the pub to make ends meet...especially on a "Jobseekers Allowance".
What ever happened to the hyocratic oath? 121 pounds is not a lot of money, a dentist should have done it on credit just because he could obviously see it needed to be done. The poor boy was in agony with a swollen face, how all these people just shuffle him along?!?
Socialized medicine is already here, in the form of HMOs. Some are better than others, but they can be very difficult to get in to see someone.
Last year, my company changed dental plans, and the cost of the DMO (like an HMO, but for dentists) was about 1/2 the cost of the PPO dental provider. I didn't read the fine print. Although there were nearly twice as many providers listed, the DMO did NOT pay anything for "out of network" dentists. Well, I broke at tooth and needed to see a dentist, and to my suprise, only one of the dentists listed by the DMO was willing to take on new DMO patients. And even though I had an "emergency," it would be almost 5 months before I could be seen.
About 4 years ago, I needed emergency back surgery. If I had been on a similar HMO plan, I would probably be in a wheel chair today.
Anytime someone says that they'd like to see "government run health care," I refer them to the VA hospital system, a rather shocking example of the way Congress has broken promises to veterans. And then I say, "Imagine the people running the DMV running the emergency room!"
Mark
Sorry, guys, its not a shortage of dentists its the absence of "free" dentists that they are moaning about.
I had an acute dental infection treated by my (private) dentist in london a few years ago. I cost about $90.
These people were prepared to let their kid die rather than shell out for a private dentist.
There is no socialised dentistry in the UK any more. I haven't had an NHS dentist for about 20 years (although my pregnant wife and kids get free treatment which strikes me as being fair enough).
There is still a widespread sence of entitlement though
Ain't SOCIALISM grand?????......
<< Agony ... Peter nearly died >>
.... but didn't pause to bathe -- or to shave