A Word From My Mother on the UK Health System

Hi Jenny, how are you? Hope everything is OK with you. I have been hearing that there is a lot of criticism of the NHS in the USA because of Obama trying to introduce a national health service into the States. Even one of our MPs has been having a pop, so I thought that I would send this message to you and you could relay it to anyone who is interested. I hope this is OK with you.

I can only relay my experience and the experiences of my family to you. I have given birth to 3 children in the NHS and the whole service was free including ante-natal care, classes, and birth as well as pre-natal care. I won't say all of it was a pleasure (I never again want to hear the phrase 'Push Mrs Neal!!) but it was all very satisfactory and all babies and mother came out healthy. I could have had any type of pain relief that I wanted. When you girls were young, all dentistry was free on the NHS, it still is for those under 16. All my children have left home with no fillings and a full head of teeth. [Actually, mum I did have one filling but it was free.] And they were straight and strong. What they are like now is not my responsibility.

A few years ago I was having a few problems, all very vague, but I went to the doctor who gave me a blood test and was very pleased with herself when she diagnosed an under-active thyroid. This was diagnosed very quickly and I was prescribed medication that has, I suppose kept me alive for the preceding 12 years. All the medication is free as are the 6 monthly blood tests to keep my medication stable. Over the years the medication has had to be increased but this is treated completely free. I count myself very lucky.

Two years ago I mentioned to the nurse that I was having some problems and I was immediately whisked into the local doctor, who said that I had to have a small procedure to check that everything was OK. (I wont go into details to spare my blushes). A week later I was in the Hospital, in Day Surgery to have the procedure. The whole experience was so professional and caring and the medical team so capable, that I wrote a letter to them expressing my gratitude and thanks and praising them. Anyway, everything was OK.

I have also heard that people are saying that the NHS discriminates on the grounds of age. Well, my 85 year old mother has recently been diagnosed with cancer and she has had loads of tests to determine where it is and what type. She has had blood tests with her declaring that she feels like a pin cushion. She has had an ultra-sound scan and a CT scan with an X-ray and heart test to determine if she is fit enough for surgery. She was given choices as to what type of treatment she wanted and has opted for surgery that she is having next week. Hardly age discrimination! We never had to wait for any of the tests and whenever she went to the hospital she was seen straight away and treated with kindness and respect.

The NHS is not perfect, but then no medical treatment can be. Even Nye Bevan said that the NHS would never have enough but he got it going anyway in 1945. What a man!! He is one of my heroes. My friend's son broke his foot in America last year and was treated there. When he came home the doctors found that the American doctor's work had been abysmal and as a result her son had to endure months of treatment on the NHS. It had to be re-broken and pinned. There will always be poor doctors.

However, I think it very backward that a country like America, a rich and resourceful country, does not have a national health service. Every country should have one and it should be the best. You cannot buy good health and it is one of the few things that should be free. Nobody should have to worry about it.

The only criticism I would make is that the NHS is a reactive service. It only acts when people are ill. It should also concentrate on preventative health so that people take responsibility for their own health to a certain extent and eat healthily etc. [We should do this for ourselves -JNU]

Anyway, I think the best thing is to stay away from doctors as much as you can. Jenny, I know you had a very good experience when you were taken ill in the UK a few years ago. [Kidney infection: got sorted out in the Bristol Royal Infirmary with no strings - they didn't even ask for ID - JNU]. Sure, you had to wait but you couldn't have wished for better treatment.

Will go now - sorry to drone on!!
mumxx