There's No Place Like Home: What I learned from my wife's month in the British medical system.

The Wall Street Journal Opinion Journal ^ | June 8, 2005 | David Asman

[FreedomPoster]

Sorry for your loss, Rose, and welcome to the U.S. (though it looks like you've been here several years).

I peeked at your profile page, and if you're up in Atlanta, I recommend the Dunwoody Tavern for fish and chips. It's run by an Englishman, and they do a pretty good job by me; we do take-out fish and chips from there pretty regularly. Good selection of beers on-tap as well; Guinness, Harp, Bass, Hoegaarden, etc.

[Rose of Sharn]

I am amazed that so many Americans seem not to realize that Socialized "Free" Healthcare is nothing more than an expressway to an early death and not just to the patients!

you are not kidding! Read my post "36".

[Rose of Sharn]

Scribbling down that info as fast as I can! Thankyou! : ) I am south of Macon at the moment but hoping to move further north soon so I can breathe in the summer!
Thankyou for your welcome. It is a wonderful country and I am happy.

[David Hunter]

The U.K. is a small country (it only has a population of 59.6 million people)

What has the size of the population got to do with it? Switzerland, Canada, Norway, Sweden, Luxembourg and the Netherlands have smaller populations and they also have better national health systems. Also, the UK has the fourth largest economy in the world, so on paper, lack of funds per head of population should not be an issue.

[MinuteGal]

If David Asman is the guy with the little round wire glasses, I caught him for a few minutes on Sunday debating a guest. He was spouting a pure liberal line. I sure did a double-take as it was on Fox.

Danged if I can remember what the subject was. Maybe someone else saw it. I wanted to throw something at the TV screen.

I wonder if "balanced" Fox relegates its few house liberals to slow weekend days.

Leni

[mother22wife21]

God Bless you and your family. How awful for you all! As sad as it is, if more people could really hear the wisdom you have to share about this so many others could understand and fight with us against such conditions.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

the wonderful "bedside manner" and healing touch evinced by the NHS people really showed itself to be integral to the healing process

. . . and as much as the Brits skimp on custodial staff, US hospitals skimp on nursing staff. At the expense of any opportunity for a nurse to provide moral support.

[mother22wife21]

thank you

[snowsislander]

What has the size of the population got to do with it?

My point about the size of the country is that so many people in the U.S. conflate the fact that national health care in the U.K. is bad with the rest of the world having bad healthcare.

Since the U.K.'s national health problems only reflect the problems of a small country, the extrapolation to the rest of the world from the U.K.'s problems is on the face of it a bad one.

[beaelysium]

Why are the Brits so less concerned about being sued? I can only guess that Britain's practice of forcing losers in civil cases to pay for court costs has lessened the number of lawsuits, and thus the paranoia about lawsuits from which American medical services suffer.

If we could get the insurance industry out of health care we could have the best of both worlds. Ebay's system of reference would be an excellent system for doctors, health care and patience. We could all have our little care our references and business could proceed in good faith from there.

[AFPhys]

Great article. This is probably the best one-man health care system discussion I've seen ever, and it is fortuitous that they had a homeless woman as a roommate at Cornell UH since that expands its purview enormously. I'll be using this in several ways. Thanks for posting it.

[AFPhys]

I suspect that part of the reason for the greater dependence on a "team approach" is that there simply is not the same type of individual competance. Note that the hospital didn't properly interpret an MRI despite their approach.

[shhrubbery!]

If I ever get injured in GB, mortally or just a flesh wound, I plan on hopping on a plane back to the states before going to a hospital.

Sure, that'll work. It's only a flesh wound!

[Rose of Sharn]

I wish I could stand at the rooftops and shout about all the personal experiences I have had with the British medical system. I have friends who have had to wait years for surgeries, like cataract surgery, hip replacement, etc and if you are elderly, forget even trying!

[listenhillary]

Your solution is socialized medicine? I may have missed your point.

[sinanju]

Good God, no! I was merely noting that the article pointed out a few things the Brits did better, specifically the "looser pays" tort approach, which minimized the need for defensive medicine and that the docs, nurses, and orderlies seemed to co-ordinate their efforts better with a better bedside manner. Otherwise I'd just as soon recuperate in an abbatoir.

[Howlin]

You did it again, quid!

Great article that everybody needs to read. Absolutely everybody!

[RebelBanker]

Thanks for the ping! That was a great article!

[backhoe]

I recall David from the "Damn Right Cafe" days, and always liked his style.

His report was fascinating- not everything with the British system is wrongheaded, and some parts are quite good.

I found this especially poignant:

For example, as soon as my wife was ambulatory, I was determined to get her out of the hospital as much as possible. Since a stroke is all about the brain, I wanted to clear her head of as much sickness as I could. We'd take off in a wheelchair for two-hour lunches in the lovely little park outside, and three-hour dinners at a nice Japanese restaurant located at a hotel down the street. I swear those long, leisurely dinners, after which we'd sit in the lobby where I'd smoke a cigar and we'd talk for another hour or so, actually helped in my wife's recovery. It made both of us feel, well, normal. It also helped restore a bit of fun in our relationship, which too often slips away when you just see your loved one in a hospital setting.

[Howlin]

I think he's one of the best interviewers/reporters in the press today; I've seen him go after a lot of people with such a vengeance it made me smile.