NHS is great

WOW Dahmer that is a heck of a ordeal! Glad you are ok and relaxing!

I hear good things of the NHS but my 1st and only experience was not good.  I may switch as I need to go back but I think the walk-in clinic may be better <sigh>

I am happy to hear all the good stuff though as it makes me smile!

Dahmer - Sorry about your Vespa & the busted up bod..

I agree the NHS is great. I had some complications during my pregnancy that required a specialist Consultant for a detailed doppler scan and they initially told me that it would be a week before I could get in and I was telephoned later that evening with an 11 am appointment the very next day!

In the US you might get more rapid response to non-life threatening conditions (I had my gall bladder removed in the US within a week of having an attack) but you pay a hefty price for it. Basically Money Talks.

Now as for their receptionists...not so good.

I've had lots of trouble with this. I guess they just don't like their jobs. A lot! 

I was misdiagnosed regarding a health issue by two different dermatologists in the US who just looked at a problem to determine what was going on and then dismissed it, but my GP actually ran tests and it came back something else and I've gotten treatment for it. I think largely it depends on how good your health insurance is in the states, too. During times when I didn't have health insurance, doctors would usually not bother running tests on me because they knew I couldn't afford it, so they would just treat me with the simplest method possible. When I had insurance, they couldn't run enough tests to find out what was going on.  Just my experience.

Also, two thumbs up for the NHS smoking cessation program, too. They really are helpful with this and very supportive. We had our appointment last night for a bit of a pep talk and it helped so much, and they monitor the levels of carbon monoxide in your body as you are quitting so you can see how much healthier you are already becoming. It gives you a visual of what you are actually accomplishing when you quit. Our next appointment is in two weeks so we just have to keep up the good work until then, but we can make an appointment any time if we want to look at the jar of tar in the nurse's office for motivation. 

Also, two thumbs up for the NHS smoking cessation program, too. They really are helpful with this and very supportive. We had our appointment last night for a bit of a pep talk and it helped so much, and they monitor the levels of carbon monoxide in your body as you are quitting so you can see how much healthier you are already becoming. It gives you a visual of what you are actually accomplishing when you quit. Our next appointment is in two weeks so we just have to keep up the good work until then, but we can make an appointment any time if we want to look at the jar of tar in the nurse's office for motivation. 

That is excellent!  Heath promotion and preventative medicine - I wish more was invested in this kinda stuff.

I'm glad that the NHS has a smoking cessation program, but I have a problem with the fact that while they provide a free smoking cessation program, I still have to pay for my asthma meds.

I'm glad that the NHS has a smoking cessation program, but I have a problem with the fact that while they provide a free smoking cessation program, I still have to pay for my asthma meds.

We do still pay for our meds to stop smoking, so it isn't free. The chemist forgot to charge us for them last time for some odd reason, but that was just a mistake on their part.

I'm a fan. 

In the US/UK experiences, I really think it's a crap shoot depending on your doctor and your insurance coverage.  I was rarely able to stick with the same doctor for more than a year because work would change the coverage, or the doctor would move, or that practice no longer wanted to accept that insurance coverage, etc.  So, a mixed bag.  I find the US was more proactive in terms of running tests, but I have had nothing but positive experiences in the UK so far.

I also am generally healthy and don't need to go to the doctor that often so none of this stuff has been related to emergency treatment, or for an ongoing condition.

I 100% love my NHS dentist far more than I ever did any US dentist, and for a fraction of the price.  Sure, it's no frills, but it gets the job done and the work is the same as I would have gotten in the US.  The only difference is paying for the cleaning/polishing, but the amount of work I had done last year vs what I would have paid in the US given the crap dental insurance we had evens it all out, in my mind.

We do still pay for our meds to stop smoking, so it isn't free. The chemist forgot to charge us for them last time for some odd reason, but that was just a mistake on their part.

I've heard otherwise. Thanks for dispelling an incorrect rumour.

I've heard otherwise. Thanks for dispelling an incorrect rumour.

When we used the patches last year, we paid for those, too - the regular prescription price, and they only give you one box at a time, so you pay for each box. With the Champix, we pay the prescription price (£7.20, or thereabouts) for each 2 week supply of meds for each of us, so we are actually paying about £15 for each of us per month, or £30 for both of us. Still cheaper than smoking! 

In healthcare, there are good and bad apples on both side of the Atlantic.  Each system will allow the unsavory side of a healthcare professional's human nature to manifest itself in a specific way.  My less admirable colleagues in the US were often in danger of doing too much, and those in the UK in danger of doing too little--both in the name of financial motivation, and not necessarily in the interest of the patient.

On the other hand, my more admirable healthcare professional colleagues in the US and the UK act in a very similar fashion, namely, their focus is patient-centered, evidence-based when possible, and driven by curiosity and humility when the bounds of their expertise are stretched.

I agree with sb15 in that what you'll get is very much a crap shoot...but only at first.  In either system, you'll find someone sooner or later who is right for you, and when you do, it's often up to you to work the system to stick with that professional for as long as you can.

My less admirable colleagues in the US were often in danger of doing too much.....both in the name of financial motivation, and not necessarily in the interest of the patient.

Oh man, that's true, I had one PCP in the US who would run every test under the sun because I had good insurance and he wanted the payback. "Sore throat? OK, blood tests, scans, and 3 follow up visits."  So that was annoying to the extreme.  His bedside manner was appalling as well. A complete jerk.

In either system, you'll find someone sooner or later who is right for you, and when you do, it's often up to you to work the system to stick with that professional for as long as you can.

Except when the GP you love has left your area and you have to start over 

Oh man, that's true, I had one PCP in the US who would run every test under the sun because I had good insurance and he wanted the payback. "Sore throat? OK, blood tests, scans, and 3 follow up visits."

I think with US doctors, it's not just about getting payback from the insurance company, but also about a fear of being sued for malpractice if they don't test for everything under the sun and miss something.

I think with US doctors, it's not just about getting payback from the insurance company, but also about a fear of being sued for malpractice if they don't test for everything under the sun and miss something.

They certainly don't seem to worry about malpractice suits when the patient doesn't have insurance. 

I had mixed experiences in the US - different doctors, etc.  My last GP in the US was fabulous!  I picked him because he took his medical training from my alma mater university.  (Rock Chalk Jayhawk!  )  When I first started seeing him, he kind of freaked me out, because he talked really fast & worked through several different diagnosis possibilities with me for a problem before deciding which we were dealing with...but I got to really like him.  At first, he was working for the actual offices of a particular HMO (can't remember which one it was - der!), then went into private practice.  By the time I was leaving the US to come here, he was looking for a new profession - having become increasingly disgusted with the US health care system & health insurance racket, malpractice premiums for a good guy running a small time practice, etc.  And going out of business.  I was sad for him because he was really so good - a good, highly ethical doctor who really treated and saw me as an individual, and didn't think he was god.  (I add the last comment, because my mom was a registered nurse from 1940s-1970s & had lots of stories to tell about doctors & their god complexes, talking down to the nurses, etc  )

I moved over here with a blood pressure condition for which I took tablets.  I also have a history of depression, for which I occasionally take meds.  My doctor's surgery here has been pretty good as far as my experiences with them.  For about the first 4 years I was here, I always saw the same doctor.  The practice is literally just 5 minutes around the corner from our house.  They put me on the same BP meds, but fortunately - through changes to my lifestyle, weight loss, etc...I have been able to go off the meds, which they said isn't very common & I guess thought I did a good job getting my BP down through lifestyle changes.  (I know I might eventually have to go on them again.)  They've been fine for treating any depression or anxiety as/when it flares up (with SSRIs).  And just generally pretty good.  My GP that I saw all along has started phasing out his hours, however, toward retiring...and now, I tend to just see 'any available doctor' when I go in.  Not too happy about that - I prefer the continuity.  The last gal I saw was pretty young & didn't seem much bothered about my past BP issues, and was just kind of  - yeah come in whenever you can manage to again.  I won't let that put me off, but I know it's up to me to keep working on the lifestyle stuff that I can control.

Have had one visit to A&E - at the suggestion of NHS Direct, when I buggered my knee on a long distance walk...after the long distance walk, and because I didn't rest it when it happened (kept on walking), the injury traveled and worsened a bit.  I don't really think I needed to be at A&E - but they (NHS Direct) told me to consider going so I did.  I don't think the people at A&E thought I needed to be there either.  It wasn't the greatest experience (at A&E), but it was okay.  It didn't have that clean, sterile smell and look of a US hospital - I'm afraid to say - and it really put me off going to the hospital here, ever.  But then I have a hospital phobia anyway, so it doesn't need much to help it along.  I waited a long time, but no longer than I would have waited in a US ER for the same kind of thing.  Here, they gave me a telling off & sent me home (I should have stopped walking & treated the injury, vs doing what I did, fair enough) with a sick note for a week.  In the US, I'm sure a variety of tests would have been run, and to what avail?  Not sure.

My impression is that the doctors here don't make a huge boatload of money like a lot of doctors in the US.  I know (generally) where my GP (the one I saw for the early years) lives, right here in town, because I saw him leaving his house to walk his dog one day, and we recognised & said 'hi' to each other.  (He lives along the way on the walk down to where Andee lives!)  He lives in just a modest, ordinary, average house - much like mine.  That surprised me!