Northerner
Admin (Retired)
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
After my breast cancer scare and exemplary care in the UK, I’ve felt a powerful urge to shout at the Brits: do you know what an extraordinary health system you have?
I found the lump a fortnight ago while on a work assignment in Vilnius, Lithuania. It was a hot, sunny day in the landlocked capital but as my fingers discovered what felt like a ping pong ball sized growth, ice went through my veins. I am not a catastrophist by nature but within seconds, I had envisaged the worst and by the time I was in the air homeward bound for Heathrow a few days later, I was writing my will in my head.
We have lived in London since 2008 and not a day goes by when the National Health Service isn’t in the news, more often than not for mistakes, delays, apparent inefficiency or targeted for funding cuts. From the red top tabloids to the circulation busting, Daily Mail, sticking the knife into the NHS seems to have become a favoured British sport (paradoxically, Britons still gush with national pride about Danny Boyle’s London Olympics opening ceremony and his eccentrically, flamboyant homage to the NHS.)
Paradoxically too, despite this background hum of complaint, just 11% of Brits have private medical cover, compared to the 54% of Australians who pay for some form of general treatment cover.
http://www.theguardian.com/commenti...rilliant-and-aussies-dont-let-your-guard-down
I found the lump a fortnight ago while on a work assignment in Vilnius, Lithuania. It was a hot, sunny day in the landlocked capital but as my fingers discovered what felt like a ping pong ball sized growth, ice went through my veins. I am not a catastrophist by nature but within seconds, I had envisaged the worst and by the time I was in the air homeward bound for Heathrow a few days later, I was writing my will in my head.
We have lived in London since 2008 and not a day goes by when the National Health Service isn’t in the news, more often than not for mistakes, delays, apparent inefficiency or targeted for funding cuts. From the red top tabloids to the circulation busting, Daily Mail, sticking the knife into the NHS seems to have become a favoured British sport (paradoxically, Britons still gush with national pride about Danny Boyle’s London Olympics opening ceremony and his eccentrically, flamboyant homage to the NHS.)
Paradoxically too, despite this background hum of complaint, just 11% of Brits have private medical cover, compared to the 54% of Australians who pay for some form of general treatment cover.
http://www.theguardian.com/commenti...rilliant-and-aussies-dont-let-your-guard-down