Life /
Poland's Health Care System - NFZ [11]
National Health Service in the UK is okay, but is very over stretched and has a problem with 'struggling' foreign doctors.
They are however getting wise to 'health tourists' those that get off a flight at Stanstead and pop to the local A&E with something that more than likely will need an admittance. I read in a medical mag recently (most of my family work for NHS so this kind of literature is available) a foreigner came into the A&E at a hospital in the SE of England and wanted treatment, after the hospital staff asked for payment (they ask for payment upfront these days because so many give false detail and then sod of back to where they came from) they were told by aforementioned ‘health tourist’ you are a rich country and health care is free here, why should I pay, a doctor was summoned and explained it like this.
He asked if the patient had a mobile, the patient then replied he did, the doctor asked if he was on contract or pay as you go, the patient responded that he was on pay as you go, the doctor then explained that the National Health Service was like pay as you go, that people in England paid their NI on a weekly / monthly basis and this gave them the right to free treatment. So basically if you don’t pay you don’t get a service.
Going back to the point of being overstretched, maternity wards can't cope, even though the indiginous population is in decline there are more and more babies being born. Then there is the cost of treating patients from the Sub Sahara who come here with AIDS, it all adds up.
So in short, the system in my opinion is okay, but the infrastructure is bowing under the weight of the flood of new comers.
