The UK's National Health Service, the NHS, a model for and a forerunner of Obamacare, continues to fail and disappoint the British people just as Obamacare will fail and disappoint the American people once it is fully implemented in 2014: "But the place is full of blokes!" "Sorry, dearie, it's all we have to offer." Thirteen years after Britain's Labour Party promised that mixed sex wards in NHS hospitals would be abolished, patients were forced to spend some 20,000 nights in mixed sex accommodations last year, many hospitals used only thin partitions to separate the sexes, and dozens used a curtain. In 2009, there were 18,685 breaches of the rules and the number is growing rapidly. In addition, 20% of NHS patients are forced to share washrooms and toilets with patients of the opposite sex and many are confined to hospitals which still feature "Victorian style" facilities, that is, men and women aren't even kept in separate bays or have the benefits of flimsy separations for privacy. It's highly improbable that Queen Victoria had to share such undignified arrangements. If she had, she would certainly not be amused. Meanwhile the conservatives and labourites quibble over which party is responsible for this offense to propriety in very proper England. A Labour Party spokesman, dripping sarcasm, said, "It is surprising that the Conservatives have chosen this week [before national elections] to highlight the fact that in 1997, thanks to their neglect of the Health Service, mixed-sex accommodation was a major problem, and that now with Labour it has been virtually eliminated:" http://tiny.cc/ebfd2 Both parties are missing the point. The real issue is the NHS itself which treats its victims like chattel. One such victim is Becky Smith who spent all her working life as an NHS surgeon and when she needed medical treatment, the NHS turned its collective back on her. "Sorry, dearie, the NHS doesn't consider your breast cancer or life worth the bother." Dr. Smith contracted cancer at the tender age of 30. Actually, she may have had the disease earlier but NHS mis-diagnosed it four times and now she has been denied a breakthrough treatment that could prolong her life by 20 years. Without it, she may have as little as 18 months to live. The reason for the denial? The cost, about 23,000 British pounds or about $35,000. The greatest irony? The NHS bureauocracy is already paying for the treatment for 40 others, some about 5 miles from her family's home. Smith rightfully feels betrayed by the NHS: "I feel so let down. I've given my all to the NHS and I could give it another 20 years, doing the work I love. I just need this treatment to give me a fighting chance:" http://tiny.cc/xcsp1 My guess is that Smith will find a way to pay for her life-saving treatment without the help of the National Health Service, but why should she have to? |
