Sicko

We went to see Sicko yesterday and it left a very sick feeling in my gut, plus a desperate desire to move back to the UK , pronto! Of course it had some dubious points like the idea in some countries, health care is free which it isn't, we just pay for it in a fairer way. I can't comment on Canada, France or Cuba but I have lived in the UK for most of my life, so can comment on the UK system, somewhat, here.



Basically the NHS is a brilliant institution despite the government. I say that because although we pay a national health insurance stamp which is meant to cover health and social security concerns, it is not actually ring-fenced. That means that although in theory that money is ear-marked for those areas, it is not protected from being used by the government for any other schemes that might be their favourite at the time.


Margaret Thatcher was well known for not being a big supporter of the NHS, however she also knew it was the holiest of grails in UK politics. So what she did, was underfund the NHS which led to long lines and waits for what was basic health care during her time. It was during this time that HMO's became big in the USA and what she wanted was some form of HMO for the NHS which would by stealth, lead to private health care. She also managed to empty the mental health hospitals because mental health is a drain and we can't be having that now, can we? This is where the image of the NHS being a second class service basically stems from, I think.
She would have succeeded if she had more time, as people were getting fed up with crap service and taking up BUPA ( a private health insurance) readily as a back up - in essence queue jumping. Unfortunately for her but not for us, she decided to firstly use the Scots for her poll tax plan and by the time it hit England, the people were ripe for kicking up a stink.


As I haven't lived in the UK for the past 7 yrs I cannot say whether it has improved or got worse. I know that at the time when we left Scotland, things were great for me and my Family. My kids received free prescriptions and free dental care. Elisabeth had 2 operations on her teeth to correct a problem she was born with. If we had stayed, they would all of had braces free of charge. Unfortunately, NHS dentists are hard to find now, apparently ,so I am not so sure dental care is that good now.


I received all my prescriptions free because I have 2 chronic health conditions, an under active thyroid and type II diabetes. I was seen regularly by a dietitian and podiatrist because of my diabetes. I also attended the diabetes clinic at Perth Hospital every 6 months to check on my diabetes where it was first found out that I have a chronic blood in my urine problem . They did very conceivable test to find out why that was happening but seemingly I was one of those people that happens.


Not everyone gets free prescriptions. You pay for your prescriptions if you are between 18-60 if you don't fall into certain categories. It use to be the case that you would pay the same fee regardless of the number of items. Now you get charged £6.85 per prescription. I remember when this happened, my doctor or pharmacist would advise me whether it was cheaper to buy without or with a prescription if the choice was available.

If you are a pregnant woman or within 12 months of giving birth, all your medications and dental care is free (if you can find a NHS dentist, of course.)

So my experience of the NHS has been overall very positive but I know that isn't the case everywhere. Every system is going to have its problems and the NHS has them. If the money for the NHS was ring fenced that would go a long way to solving the problem.

The only thing I would change is doctors visits, I would charge a basic fee for them, like £5 as people do tend to abuse such things.

There was one other thing that jibe me in the film and that was the treatment by the kids of the Parents in Denver. From the dialogue, it appeared these parents had given their all to the upbringing of their 6 kids. Due to the medical conditions they had and the insurance companies, they were now bankrupt and forced to move in with one of their daughters. Very good of their daughter, you think but what any kid wouldn't do for that their parents in a time of need (well most parents). Except this, the daughter hadn't even bothered to clear out the room they were consigned to. It was full of junk, collectibles (couldn't see what they were but they looked like fantasy figures) and a PC with attached accessories. If that had been me, seeing that, I would collapsed and cried because it was very obvious that they weren't welcome, this was made even more obvious with discussion they had with their mid 20 yrs old son.

I wasn't completely unsympathetic to the daughter though, as her husband was one of the invisible, private army this Iraq war has created. Unable to find work in Denver, he was going to work as a contractor in Iraq.

I am lucky because since moving to the States, I have had excellent health care and my Doctor (same as a GP in the UK) is very good. However I know I am lucky and I don't like to think I am lucky, I want everyone to be treated the way I am.

One of the things that came up in movie was the French attitude, if the government does something the people doesn't agreed with, then the people protest, often aggressively. In the UK, we aren't as extreme but we do protest, we protest a lot and aggressively. The one thing that has really puzzled me in this country, in the years I have lived here, is why people don't rise up and protest. For some reason it is perceived as anti-American to protest but if the people in the beginning of the creation of the United States had not protested and hadn't done it so aggressively, the United States might not have existed. Seeing this film I am even more puzzled.