‘The New Church of England’: Coronavirus Renews Pride in U.K.’s Health Service

What? Britain has one of the the highest Covid death rates in Europe: Over 14%, slightly higher than Italy. I lived in England for 10 years and the most frightening thing I’ve ever seen is an NHS hospital. In my experience, the NHS is great for colds and sniffles. But if you get really sick and need a hospital, LOOK OUT and go private.

I'll take what good I can get. If society discovers just how much we owe to our care-givers, that is a truly excellent step in the right direction. F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote of his famous characters, “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy- they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.” In contrast, friends, meet these people, know them, count them as friends. They care. Carelessness is declasse.

The NYT never misses an opportunity to get in some sly digs at the NHS. Envious, by any chance? The NHS may be underfunded but the services they provide are excellent and improving all the time. 35 years ago I used to take my mother to her appointments, waited hours and then saw a stuffy doctor who said as little as possible. Now, waiting times are no more than minutes and the staff, despite your comments, are friendly and helpful. I had an NHS operation under local anaesthetic and had planned to listen to podcasts throughout, but there was a nurse whose main role was to hold my hand, chat to me and distract me during the procedure. For free. No cost. And I'm no VIP. I have friends and family in the NHS all over the UK and they report that they haven't had the surges they were expecting in their hospitals The NHS did a fantastic job of planning ahead and while there have been some hotspots on the whole it hasn't been overwhelmed by the coronavirus. NYT, instead of making snarky comments, use your platform to fight to have what we have for your own country. Universal healthcare is one of the hallmarks of a civilised society.

Wait - doctors are friendly here only because we pay them? That is sad.

It is commendable that the UK citizens applaud the medical staff during this pandemic, as is done in many other countries. They are truly dedicated and do their utmost best under trying circumstances. But you cannot separate the staff in the trenches from the overall system in terms of performance and results. And that system failed miserably for multiple reasons that also include an unforgivable unpreparedness by the NHS. To put this into perspective, as of today the UK had the fourth most infections after the US and barely trailing behind Spain and Russia. The UK's death toll is even worse with nearly 33,000 fatalities, trailing only the US. And in terms of deaths per million people it only trails Spain and Italy among the largest major countries. The main culprit seems to be the conservative government that not only misjudged the virus, but also bungled UK's relation with the rest of Europe. This one-two punch will haunt them for a long time. Unfortunately the Brits will be stuck with Boris Johnson for the next five years.

I was diagnosed with scleroderma in Toronto in 2003... 3 months before my cousin in Chicago was. My scleroderma was more aggressive, but she died of the disease's complications and deeply in debt to the American health care system. Our Canadian system is far from perfect, but I give thanks daily that it kept me functional, contributing member of my community -- and debt free.

I'd be careful to romanticize the NHS (an comparable systems) too much as a silver bullet to all US health care issues. First of all, looking at the COVID-19 fatalities, the UK didn't do so well. The price and costs of insurance and treatment have little relevance when comparing how effective a health care system is in preventing death from COVID19. The UK has 227,736 confirmed cases and 32,769 deaths. One out of seven confirmed cases resulted in death in the UK. In comparison, in the US only one in 16 confirmed cases resulted in death. The numbers are from today's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University (JHU) COVID19 dashboard. So, yeah, so much for that. And as a parent of a severely autistic child I can tell you that no European health care system covers the autism related therapies we depend on. The same is true for Canada's national health care system. In the US, our private insurance pays for the ABA therapy our kiddo relies on to develop essential skills and behaviors that make him function at the most basic levels. The "better" healthcare systems in Canada, the UK and other European countries including my native Germany abandon children like ours and leave parents to deal with the situation themselves without insurance coverage. So no, single payer healthcare or universal healthcare are not necessarily better than the US system - depending on what treatment you depend on!

I am seeing few unflattering comments on NHS especially from Americans but what I recall from my few months over there is that during a trip to my friend home in London, his infant of few months old suddenly developed a high degree fever and a car with paramedic came within few minutes of placing the call and did a through check of the baby and administered medicine, all without a dime ! Next was the elderly mother of my host has lots of health issues and her medicine needs to be refilled every two weeks and all are done promptly without a cost. Tragic is that USA spends more on capita in healthcare then all the develop countries and but it goes to profit making giant corporations. Americans should admire NHS instead of picking holes which is a clear tale of sour grape.

I’m an American who’s been living in the U.K. for ten years now. It’s sad to see that even the most “neutral” analysis of the NHS from an American newspaper will still be riddled with snark. The British affection for the NHS is cute, naive, a bit charming and outdated... I can’t express what a relief it is, going from Blue Cross to the NHS. When I call my doctor for an appointment, they say, “How about tomorrow?” I had a full cardio work up last year, walked in, walked out, no bills, no nothing. The British can’t understand the nightmare we put up with, and now neither can I.

I love England and applaud the NHS. The USA could learn a lot about civility, cleanliness and not to mention organization from the United Kingdom.

Having been in the healthcare industry and for 10 of those years, representing a Belgian company, the French and Germans have the best healthcare system in Europe. The Brits have very large hospitals and there is a waiting list for those needing a procedure. Also the Brits did not continue dialysis after age 65 - those without money died. Canada has a similar healthcare system to Britain and large hospitals like Mayo Clinic and U of MN get lots of patients from Canada who have money to pay for their procedures. Yes the Brits have a healthcare system that is vastly better than that of Tanzania where families do not name their children until after their first birthday - malaria kills infants.

After my Medicare Advantage plan offered both in-network neurology and psychiatric consults 12 months in the future, I figured the so called speedy response touted by US market-driven health care is bogus. It’s the best of both worlds, NHS wait times with American prices. Turns out GB, Canada, France, Germany and every other first world industrialized country doesn’t have inordinate wait times, they don’t ration health care, you choose your physician, and it costs about half of what we pay in the US. Hey, conservative Republicans, that just about takes care of all your objections. How ‘bout it?

I always thought the NHS was a great idea. About 6 years ago I slipped and fell and badly damaged my ankle and foot in a very rural area of the English countryside. We went to the nearest A&E in the nearest medium-sized town. I waited two hours in the receiving area, and then the ankle was examined by a doctor who spoke little English and x-rayed by a machine that appeared to be leftover from WWII. The technician put the film up to view it and asked my husband (who is not a doctor) what he thought about it. They gave me an ace bandage and some paracetamol. It was "free." We then drove to London and managed to get an air cast to stabilize the foot. We then took the next flight to the US where the docs scanned the ankle and I received successful surgery to repair the break and the torn tissue surrounding it. I gladly paid my insurance deductible. "Free" is not always better.

The problem with treating the NHS as a religion is that it becomes a sacred cow. I lived in the UK for several years and had my first child there. I would not wish the US system on Britain, but it's used as a bogeyman to stop all conversation about NHS reforms. There are many ways to structure a health system that are neither the NHS nor fully private insurance, and some have higher patient satisfaction ratings. Applause for the sacrifices of NHS workers are used to cover up the systematic underinvestment in British healthcare. People are left waiting for specialist treatment. There aren't enough nurses, and they are underpaid. Treatments have been cut because of austerity. But if you want to pay privately, you can see the exact same consultant you would see on the NHS--only without the wait. That's what you're getting, not the smile.

"Another disadvantage is that there is little incentive for clinicians to be friendly, or even particularly polite, since no money is changing hands." Having lived for 12 years in the UK, this begs a lot of questions. There is a cultural difference here, but it has little to do with quality of care or respect. You assume that courtesy is contingent upon exchanging money? Honestly, I found the lack of all the Guy Smiley faux friendliness quite refreshing. My family and I received quality care without all the flattery many Americans have been trained in, where all public exchanges involve some kind of sales technique. In regards to politeness and courtesy, I think the British compare rather well. Their health care has a dignity lacking in our health care system, which for many millions of poorer families is a grave disservice. And good luck if you ever are unemployed or become unable to work! One of the more painful parts of re-entry to the States was to go to a medical clinic and be regarded essentially as a paying customer first and a human being only secondarily. I hope one day Americans will have the privilege of experiencing the difference of atmosphere themselves.

How can a reporter write an article about the NHS in the UK without acknowledging that there are 4 different NHS' in the UK? Each of the devolved administrations has its own healthcare system. I work in the Scottish NHS and it has a completely different philosophy to the English system. In England there is increasing privatisation of healthcare and a market ideology. In Scotland we have largely retained central control and the Scottish Government has protected the Scottish NHS from many of the cuts experienced south of the border.

Yes, the NHS is a socialised system but it actually underpins the capitalist system by effectively offering free health insurance to those wanting to start a business. In my own case this meant being able to leave a corporate role- and thus freeing a position for a younger colleague - to become my own boss in my fifties. I get the impression many American are deterred from doing the same because they can't risk losing health care benefits of their job

It’s not perfect. But it’s pretty good - it’s scraped me off both the metaphoric and literal tarmac more than a few times. And it gives us something positive and communal to rally around. We’ve got a stake.

America, do you think Britain's medical industry or the country's wealthy wanted the NHS? Hardly. The Brits got it because they INSISTED on it. The industry and the rich fell in line when they saw how the tide was turning. Keep this in mind.

Dentistry is means tested, those earning under a certain level receive it free of charge and medication is not paid for, there is a charge of £8.50 per prescription irrespective of the number of drugs prescribed. For those comparing deaths per million, Europe is the size of the east coast of America and has a population of nearly 600m. It's infections are also weeks ahead of the US and we don't fix the figures, unlike much of the USA we count all the deaths in nursing homes. YOU should too. https://theconversation.com/failure-to-count-covid-19-nursing-home-deaths-could-dramatically-skew-us-numbers-137212

The New York Times declares that a socialized health system is the New Church, and that there is unlimited demand among faithful for the health care sacraments, but that certain apostate politicians won't impose sufficient tithes on the public to properly distribute the bounties of St. Karl (Marx). and thus ensure the continued fealty of the duly-drugged masses of the worshipful electorate. (YAWN.) I wonder what will happen when the collection trays run empty after the tithed benefactors flee, and the children of God no longer consider the Fathers of the New Church to be among the Elect? Amen, amen, I say to you, there will be a great grinding and gnashing of teeth.

The NHS is socialism in practice, which is why the American right and its medical care industry has bad mouthed it since its inception (1948). We in Britain receive comprehensive care for the same proportion of GDP that the USA spends on public health care, albeit with millions excluded from it and tons of copayments. In my case the NHS saved my life not once but twice. As an infant in 1951 with a fractured scull and today (in my dotage) with treatment for stomach cancer, requiring a gastrectomy. I am now well and I am able to go on 5 KM runs. What was the cost of the exceptional care I received, as well general practice care, drugs, etc. etc. ? Very simple to answer. Nix. Nothing. Rien. Zilch. Naught. Nada. τίποτα, Nichts. In any language you want.. Healthcare here is viewed as a communal gift. When I go to see my surgeon every six months for a checkup I say the words "Thank you." That's it. And he beams at me. Now, what kind of payment is that? The Tories dare not take it away from us. And believe me, they want to, just as the Republicans (and right wing Democratics) are happy with the gross inequalities of the US non-system.

I spent the first 40 years of my life in the UK, and I can tell you without any need for exaggeration that the NHS, without doubt, is so much better a system than we have here in the US. There are problems, of course. It's not perfect. Some aspects of the US system are better. On the whole, though, the NHS is far, far better value for money than the bizarre, ridiculously expensive and unnecessarily complicated US health system. How anyone can't grasp the fact that middlemen complicate and add extra cost to healthcare? The fewer paid employees not directly involved in actual healthcare the better, and yet there is a vast industry of human beings all being paid salaries in order for healthcare to happen in the US. That there is competition among health care providers is absurd: we all get sick, we all run risk of being hurt in accidents. We're all born and die. We must have something akin to the NHS in the United States. The cost alone is good enough reason. What Britons pay in taxes that goes to The NHS is way, way lower than we all pay for private health care.

Yet the death rate for positive cases in the UK is about the highest in the world. About 15% of people diagnosed with covid-19 in the UK have died (as opposed to about 6% in the US). That's higher than Spain or Italy. I'm sure the workers in the NHS are heroes. But the system has failed the British people in this pandemic.

How about a weekly article about the N.H.S.? Americans need to wake up and see that we are shoving our boot heel into the faces of our less fortunate citizens and neighbors. When will we become a humane society?

I guess its hard for Americans to understand pride in a healthcare system that treats everyone, turns nobody away, bankrupts nobody, sues or hounds nobody, surprise bills nobody, forces nobody to have to choose between food and medication, or delay treatment due to affordability concerns. Given that they consistently reject candidates for president who want to import humane healthcare provisioning here. I wonder what the allure of flirting with personal financial ruin every time you have a medical emergency is? I personally don’t understand it. It seems terribly masochistic.

The serious problems at the NHS have not gone away. Citizens around the world have fresh appreciation for those medical workers who put themselves in danger to serve the sick, but the NHS isn't really doing much better than the awful piecemeal system we have in the U.S.

In a rational mixed economy where different forms of ownership occupy different areas of the political economy according to their strengths the NHS is an obviously successful socialistic example, like the army for example. It really does try to work for all on the basis of need and is paid for all according to ability. I struggle to find why that is so objectionable for some people and why some governments work to try and undermine that simple ethos. Is it really so threatening ? Like most strong supporters of the NHS, and that does include most U.K. residents, I’m no communist. But in this example it works for goodness sake. Magnificently.

In my experience having lived in both UK and other Western Europe countries the folks that use the "free" medical weren't any of my colleagues. Most of them had health insurance and never, ever would even consider going to an NHS facility. In deference to PlaneBee it was interesting how everyone held up the NHS as a source of pride, until it came time to actually use it. And for anything major they came to the US, except for the guy who went to Russia. He never came back.

Bad mouth the NHS at your peril if you visit the UK! In spite of our reverance for our health care workers, we were painfully aware tht they could be very easily overwhelmed by the tragic onslaught of Coronavirus. The NHS has been continually targeted for cuts and ridicule leaving it feeling unloved and undervalued. As a consumer of medical services myself all over the world and for my wider family I can vouch that the service is positively amazing. Far from the joke about smiling in this article, I cannot believe the patience, love, care and professionalism at every level. Although doctors are often stretched, I have never found them anything other than pleasant, polite and generous with their time and effort. My depression era parents described the stress that their families experienced when they could not access medical services because of the cost. I am grateful that their legacy is that I am relieved of that awful dilemma. I have survived because of this as there was a health service that managed complex conditions throughout my life - without throwing me or my family into bankruptcy of forcing me into a job just because of the health care benefits. Along with my compatriots I applaud all our care workers and am delighted that this may herald a new era of appreciation for them. This will cost us more - but there is strong support for this.

From Reagan in the '60s to Bill Kristol in the '90s, the Tea Party in Obama's era to Mitch McConnell now, American conservatives have well understood that if they ever permit citizens a fair guarantee of public healthcare, we will never tolerate having it ripped away from us. Nor would we Americans be as likely to buy most of their other claims about government, either.