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Topic: No smoking ban starts 1st July in UK
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Stephen Furley
Film God
Posts: 3059
From: Coulsdon, Croydon, England
Registered: May 2002
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posted 07-03-2007 03:24 AM
I never go near a Doctor if I can possibly avoid it. I don't want to even think about bodies, and things that go on inside them. I have been to a post mortem, so I know what the various bits inside look like, but 'out of sight, out of mind' is the best policy as for as I'm concerned. In my view if whatever I've got is minor it will go away, and if it's serious I'll die, so either way I won't have to worry about it.
Another problem is that people expect Doctors to be miracle-workers, which they can't be. A couple of years ago I was in my hotel room in New Jersey, when I suddenly started getting terrible pains in my side; I've never felt anything like them before. I was due to fly home the following evenging, just over 24 hours later, so I was somewhat worried, and decided that unless it had completely goe away by the folling morning I would have to have it looked at, rather than risk being taken ill in mid-Atlantic.
The next morning it had gone, so I flew home; the following day it came back while on the bus going to work; I got off the bus and got some water to drink, but by the time I arrived it was much worse. Work called a taxi to take to Dortor. He examined me, and asked some questions, but wasn't sure what the cause was. He suggested several possibilities, including kidney stones, and several things with long latin names that I'd never heard of, but couldn't be sure. by that evening whatever it was had gone away, and has never come back, so I never did find out what it was.
The last time I went to a dentist was just before I was 21, almost 30 years ago. I had to have an extraction, and I don't like having needles stuck into be. Rather than the usual local in the gum they gave me a shot in the arm to put me out, and then gas to keep me that way. Several other people had similar treatment that day, and most sat in the waiting room for half an hour or so to recover before going home. When I came round I had never felt so ill in my life; I honestly thought I was going to die. I must have been sitting in the waiting room for something like three hours before I could even try to stand up, and walk home. I obviously had some reaction to whatever they had given me, and I swore that as long as I lived I would never go to a dentist again. I haven't, and I won't.
[ 07-03-2007, 05:59 AM: Message edited by: Stephen Furley ]
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Leo Enticknap
Film God
Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000
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posted 07-03-2007 03:41 AM
quote: Christopher Meredith
Also, does it pay in similar fashion to US insurance companies, where there is a co-pay, deductible, and then 60/40 or 70/30 type scheme?
No - the NHS has its own workforce (someone once told me that it's the second largest employer, in terms of the most number of people working for a single organisation, in the world - the only bigger one is the Chinese army!), and for major treatment no money changes hands. You see the GP, and if necessary (s)he then refers you to a hospital for more major treatment. Since the 1980s there have been moves to make the various sub-organiszations within the NHS more financially autonomous: so, for example, GPs' surgeries and specialist units manage their own budgets and compete internally with other NHS organisations to carry out routine treatments. But that all goes on behind the scenes, and doesn't really affect what happens to you as a patient. You do pay a flat charge for prescription medicines, which I think is designed so that those who need the cheaper ones subsidise those who need the expensive ones.
The state healthcare system in France is a sort of hybrid of the NHS and the system you describe. I can't remember the exact details, but the gist of what happens is that GPs' surgeries are private businesses, and as long as their charges don't exceed a certain amount (in other words, they have to be approved and certified by the state), you have the right to go to any one you want and the taxpayer picks up the tab. But the larger hospitals which carry out more specialist treatments are directly state-owned.
One of the few things about the European Union that I'll say positive things about is that citizens of all its member states can get a 'European Health Insurance Card'. It's totally free (you mail a form or apply online, and as long as your National Insurance number checks out it arrives in the post a few days later), and entitles you to free use of whatever state healthcare system exists in any other EU member country when you're visiting. When all is done, your government settles the bill with that of your host country.
That having been said, it's still a good idea to have travel insurance when visiting the European mainland, because the EHIC does not cover the cost of repatriating you in the case of a serious problem (e.g. if you break several bones and need to be shipped back in an air ambulance). But it does mean that, while on a holiday or work trip to another European country, if you come down with something nasty (e.g. a viral infection) but not a hospital job, you can just go and see the local doctor without any fuss.
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