Remember back when
Obamacare was still being touted as the next big thing that would
both save money and create universal access to health care? You
know, that false dawn before even the law’s administrators were
hoping it doesn’t immediately degenerate into
“a third-world experience”?
Stories abounded about how Canada and England showed just how it
could be done. Here’s the latest on basic care from Great Britain’s
fabled National Health Service (NHS), courtesy of the Guardian:
Patients are having to wait more than 48 hours to see a GP and
often take time off work when they do because appointments are hard
to get and at inconvenient times, a new report warns.
Research by the Patients Association also reveals deep
dissatisfaction with out-of-hours care and widespread concern that
weekend and overnight services may not deal with an urgent problem
properly.
Six in 10 people who took part in a survey (60.5%) said they
could not get to see a GP for at least two days, while 83.8% had to
wait for more than 24 hours.
This sort of thing is a given when government rations care,
either directly or indirectly. And there’s this:
In addition more than one in three (37.6%) were unable to book
an appointment for at least two days in advance and 57.4% said the
process of booking an appointment was either “very difficult” or
“could have been easier”.
One in five (21.7%) – including 38.2% of 16-to-64-year-olds –
had had to take time off work to attend an appointment. Of those
who did, almost six in 10 (58.2%) had to take a day or more off to
do so.
Health-care delivery in the United States already suffers from a
lack of emphasis on customer service. You can schedule oil changes
and haircuts with more precision than you can an appointment with
the doctor. But keep a stiff upper lip, folks, because it can – and
almost certainly will – get worse.
Read the whole story here.
For more links to just how rotten the NHS is,
go here ;and
here.
Hat tip: Jack Shafer. … Read More
