Keith Hudson lamented: > The National Health Service in the UK is the most prized welfare service of > all. > > Of course it is. It is absolutely free! > > The National Health Service is particularly prized by 4 in 10 of the > population, according to a London Ambulance Service survey, because they > welcome the free transport service it provides. > > Among the emergency telephone calls recorded by the LAS are the following: > > "Can you take me to the cash machine near the hospital and bring me back > home, please?" [etc.]
The problem of misuse could be solved/mitigated by charging the patients 10% of the costs. "Free market" is no solution in health care, because private healthcare maximizes illness (profits) instead of health/prevention. The US system being an illustrating example... > The point is that highly complex functions cannot be controlled by rigid > centralism (whether private or governmental) and so the NHS is now falling > apart. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ That's right, so why not try governmental de-centralism (better than private centralism, which is the final outcome of privatization). > After my morning pot of tea (and missives to FW) and dogwalk, I often > breakfast on French baguettes and Argentinian corned beef. Combined with pipe smoking, that's pretty much the contrary of the anti-cancer diet I recommended to you some months ago. If Brits in general have this attitude to their health, it's no wonder that the UK NHS crumbles under the weight... Chris
