Monday, October 02, 2006
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Unbelievable: The thoughts of wounded British soldiers:
Soldiers on operations say they would rather receive a more serious injury and go to the top American military hospital in Ramstein, Germany, than end up in a NHS hospital.
They now half jokingly refer to getting "a Boche rather than a Blighty" in reference to the wounds that would send them home. Ramstein has an outstanding unit for brain surgery, and neurological intensive care beds in Britain are in short supply. "The blokes see it that if you are unlucky you get wounded and go to the UK at the mercy of the NHS, but if you get a head wound you get sent to Ramstein in Germany where the US has an outstanding medical facility," said an officer serving in Afghanistan.
Would they really rather get shot in the head than go to the NHS? Or is it that wry British humor that's so often lost on us here in the States?
posted by Sydney on
10/02/2006 08:50:00 PM
7 comments
7 Comments:
Probably a bit of both, though more of the former than one would like to imagin.
The difference between rationed health care and not.
I read a lot of criticism on the NHS, but what is the actual objective data? Are the British happy with it?
Tim,
Evidently not, if their soldiers would rather be shot in the head than go to an NHS hospital.
tim
I visited the UK last year and took a look at some of their facilities. One UK NHS primary care trustee (they control all the money) said she couldn't afford to send a patient in for a knee replacement until the next fiscal year, despite the fact that the patient couldn't walk. I could go on, but suffice it to say, I asked my colleagues to either ship me off to France or to the London Clinic (a private hospital) if I got sick there. There is rampant MRSA and the surgical mortality is 4-8 times higher than ours, I think I linked to that story a few posts down.
In fact, the reason for our visit was for them to learn about privatization and how to set up oversight of private hospitals. One trustee said "We all think you (in the US) have it all figured out." I would say our care is far better- but we have serious access problems. They have equally crappy care for everyone.
tim
I visited the UK last year and took a look at some of their facilities. One UK NHS primary care trustee (they control all the money) said she couldn't afford to send a patient in for a knee replacement until the next fiscal year, despite the fact that the patient couldn't walk. I could go on, but suffice it to say, I asked my colleagues to either ship me off to France or to the London Clinic (a private hospital) if I got sick there. There is rampant MRSA and the surgical mortality is 4-8 times higher than ours, I think I linked to that story a few posts down.
In fact, the reason for our visit was for them to learn about privatization and how to set up oversight of private hospitals. One trustee said "We all think you (in the US) have it all figured out." I would say our care is far better- but we have serious access problems. They have equally crappy care for everyone.
that's weird. sorry about the double post.
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