I just caught this article on the BBC site on improvements in the NHS. Obviously there is room for improvement in any system, but I thought I would give a first-hand account about how amazing the system is. Reaching this decision wasn’t hard, but the reason may be because of the care in other countries.

In the States, the care is amazing. As long as you have both insurance, a high-paying salary, and a good doctor, you will receive the best treatment. When I was growing up, I enjoyed free medical attention. Unfortunately what I was too young to notice was that my parents paid for family insurance and paid a fee each time I visited. Dental wasn’t entirely covered by my mother’s insurance, so she had to pay a lot for braces, but she says it was worth it to have a beautiful smile.

Japan’s system is a conglomeration of the British and American systems, partially due to the two occupying the country following the conclusion of WWII. When I had my bottom wisdom teeth pulled, I paid for only the pain killers and antibiotics. But I also sat through 2 hours of a petite university student pulling and drilling at one tooth and suffered through a similar experience two weeks later. When I was sick, I went into the hospital with proof of residency and I was tended to with care. I was given a saline IV for the flu (a bit extreme!) and again paid for only the medicine. Since I could easily explain my ailments, I had few problems. 

Korea’s system is similar to the Japanese system, but they have more Chinese and Western trained doctors. The problem that I had was in communicating my ailments. When I had bronchitis and lost my voice, and let me note that frequent travel makes you more susceptible to new germs, the doctor gave me a few sachets of tea. The dentist that pulled another wisdom tooth was, however, amazing. She pulled my tooth in two seconds, and when a tear fell down my cheek she wiped it away as if she was my long lost mother.

In China, I was too scared to visit the hospital, so I went to the pharmacy seeking drugs for what I eventually found was swine flu. Unfortunately they didn’t know what I was saying and gave me some lemon tea. When I asked for Western drugs a few days later, they gave me the best they had - Sudafed - which was highly ineffective against N1H1.

Alternatively, I visited the doctor last week in the UK and paid for nothing (even on NYE!). My doctor was the nicest in ages, and probably only 30 years old - and very pretty. She told me I’m unique, and besides my touch of flu I am healthy. So after all the drama of the doctors in the States, Japan and Korea, seeing the system in the UK has me baffled. Why would anyone be upset about the Obama plan? And here in the UK, why would anyone be angry about trying to improve upon an already amazing system?