Brave new world or evil regime? Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Last time I was in the States I came face to face with the failings of their health care system. We had been out celebrating our 21st birthday and my sister tripped over the front step in the dark. A friend of ours rushed forward to make sure that the storm door didn’t slam shut on her, but while doing so ended up cutting open his eyelid on the very same door.

Now, had the same accident occurred here, we would have packed him up and driven straight to A&E. Yes we would probably have waited a good long while, but at the end of the night his eye would have been properly seen to and on the way to recovery.

Unfortunately we were not at home and my friend (who’s American) had recently been made redundant, losing not only his job but his health insurance. Consequently he has a permanent scar underneath his eyebrow.

I have always, and will always be an advocate for a free National Health Service. Access to health care is a basic human right. Which is why this article in the Guardian today has made my blood boil.

For the self-proclaimed ‘leader of the free world,’ the US has a wholy inadequate 2-tier health care system – for those who can afford the premiums, you can expect the best quality care, but for those who can’t – well need I say any more.

At the very heart of any democracy is the idea that we are all born equal – we all have the same chance in life as any other person. Ok, whilst I am an idealist I am in no way naive. I know this is an unattainable ideal, but structures should be in place to at least assist these goals and at the very least a social welfare system which is representative of the country’s standard of living.

But this in no way means a decline in standards, and having a spending plan doesn’t mean you put a price on human life. If anything not having some sort of NHS devalues lives because it basically states that if you can’t afford the treatment you are in some way unworthy of continuing to live.  As far as I can tell the main argumment is that by having these spending caps in place, and  an octogenarian won’t recieve the same standard of health care as a younger person.

This is utterly ridiculous. Having seen the treatment all four of my grandparents received at the end of their lives, I never ever considered that the nurses and doctors were working any less hard to treat them, than any other patient.  They were, after all, as deserving as the next person to walk through the door.

Health care is always a contentious issue, and I will happily admit that the NHS is far from perfect. But despite its faults and its critics it remains a constant and for that I am eternally grateful.

Finally, to any who remain critical I give you this.

The World Health Organisation ranks Britain’s healthcare as 18th in the world, while the US is in 37th place

Says it all really.