I needed a hip replacement two years ago. I was able to have the procedure in 40 days after selecting my preferred surgeon. Had I been in the UK?
Well the statute says no mark than 18 weeks. Of course, about 6 million brits are errr...
Who Wants Treatment from a Disgruntled Doctor?
Another disturbing development in the annals of socialized medicine.
By James Freeman, WSJ
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July 11, 2023 5:54 pm ET
Long waits, substandard treatment and lack of access to the most innovative therapies are old stories in socialized medical systems. But anyone still tempted to support the Bernie Sanders model of government-run health care should observe the latest developments in the U.K. A system that transforms doctors and nurses into unionized government bureaucrats should not be expected to prioritize patient care.
In the Times of London, Kat Lay reports on the latest round of work stoppages expected this week in Britain’s National Health Service:
Junior doctors are due to strike for five days from Thursday, in what is expected to be the largest ever industrial action in the health service. They will be followed by consultants on Thursday and Friday next week . . . The Society of Radiographers will also walk out for 48 hours from 8am on July 25 . . .
More than half a million appointments and procedures have been cancelled due to NHS staff strikes since December. A three-day walkout of junior doctors last month led to 105,120 inpatient and outpatient appointments being postponed . . .
Steve Barclay, the health secretary, says junior doctors have refused to shift from calls for a 35 per cent pay increase, which he says would fuel inflation. The [British Medical Association’s] junior doctor leaders have suggested that any rise could be delivered over a number of years.
At the U.K.’s Independent newspaper, Elizabeth Arnold reports on criticism of Mr. Barclay by the political opposition:
Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting . . . cautioned that the “worst strikes in the history of the NHS are still to come”, as the shadow health secretary asked in the Commons “what is the Health Secretary’s plan now to stop these strikes from going ahead?”
Ms. Arnold quotes additional barbs from Mr. Streeting aimed at his political opponent Mr. Barclay:
“He’s lost the confidence of nurses, he lost the confidence of radiologists, the junior doctors and consultants and he can’t even successfully negotiate with his own Chancellor. So what is the Health Secretary’s plan now to stop these strikes from going ahead?”
Can you imagine anything more terrifying than a health system so politicized that to function properly it requires doctors and nurses to have confidence in government officials? The U.S. health care system has its faults. But thank goodness it has plenty of highly capable life-saving doctors who’ve spent entire careers operating without any confidence whatsoever in government officials.
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