Posted on 04/02/2011 6:01:24 PM PDT by mandaladon
James Taranto at the Wall Street Journal editorial page caught this story about Britain's National Health Service.
"A former NHS director died after waiting for nine months for an operation--at her own hospital," London's Daily Mail reports:
Margaret Hutchon, a former mayor, had been waiting since last June for a follow-up stomach operation at Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford, Essex.
But her appointments to go under the knife were cancelled four times and she barely regained consciousness after finally having surgery.
Her devastated husband, Jim, is now demanding answers from Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust--the organisation where his wife had served as a non-executive member of the board of directors.
He said: "I don't really know why she died. I did not get a reason from the hospital. We all want to know for closure. She got weaker and weaker as she waited and operations were put off."
It would be cruel to put this down to karma, so instead we'll just note that it can't possibly be true. After all, as New York Times star columnist Paul Krugman has observed, "In Britain, the government itself runs the hospitals and employs the doctors. We've all heard scare stories about how that works in practice; these stories are false."
James really knows how to let Krugman have it.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsbusters.org ...
At least over there they all have the same rotten system. Our high and mighty government still have their gold card system.
My neighbors came from Russia and they said you have to bribe everyone even when you eventually get into the hospital it continues...
Coming to a County hospital near you soon.
bump!
I guess because she worked/managed the NHS she didn’t have private insurance, unlike a lot of other UK folks.
Check the number 1 selling point on the insurance page for BUPA
http://www.bupa.co.uk/individuals/health-life-cover/health-insurance
The “UK bribe” is just to a commercial company who then passes it on to the doctors - a legal bribe to bypass govt. waiting lists...:^)
Too bad he wasn’t in Canada- here VIPs are automatically bumped to the front of the line.
As I recall, not long ago a Premier of one of the provinces had to flee to Florida for medical treatment.
They don't seem to be far behind at all.
Tragic. Predictable. And probably our fate, too. Socialists have an uncanny ability to ignore history and convince others that “this time, we’ll get it right, unlike those who have proceeded us.”
George Orwell was one man who did warn us ... about the day when socialists could control how we live and die — and even think.
•”The thought police [National Health Service] would get him just the same. He had committed—would have committed, even if he had never set pen to paper—the essential crime that contained all others in itself. Thoughtcrime, they called it.[OR SIMPLY BEING UNAFFORDABLY SICK] Thoughtcrime was not a thing that could be concealed forever. You might dodge successfully for a while, even for years, but sooner or later they [DEATH PANELS] were bound to get you.”
- George Orwell, 1984, Book 1, Chapter 1
Don't expect that here.
The British have that "stiff upper lip" thing going. In that respect they are like the Japanese.
We have the "some pigs are more equal than other pigs" thing going on.
In our case, RATPIGS will get top priority.
If this weren’t so tragic, it would be funny.
Those that want to rule our lives never expect that the same rules will ever apply to them.
Wonder how many Brits will be discussing it and demanding "reform" in their system. Or do they just "move on" and accept the premise that it's OK if government bureaucracy causes needless deaths?
During a physical many years ago I had a positive test for cancer. The doctor didn’t notify me but six months later wanted a retest. When informed why they wanted to retest, I about exploded!
I immediately went to another doctor and requested the test. It, too, was positive. Unfortunately I was in the middle of a heavy work commitment and could not get free for three months; my new doctor, after an examination, agreed that was acceptable but no more than three months. Any longer and I was pushing my luck.
Tests post surgery proved false positives on all thirty tumors. I was lucky.
The point I’m making is that it was my choice to delay, not some faceless bureaucrat.
Good point. The Brits welcomed socialized medicine at first (free health care for me and my family!). Now they hate the National Health System for its glaring inefficiences, according to polls. But they are too afraid to get rid of it.
A people whipped, beaten, soft, decadent, insecure, AFRAID.
Now, thanks to O’Bummer, America is becoming the same way. Past the point of no return.
Delays kill people. I’ve read that many from Canada come here to be treated.
Thanks for the ping!
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