The public health service of England, namely the (NHS), provides the type of healthcare for permanent residents. As it is paid for from the general taxation, these services are free to use. However, healthcare provisions are not all the same all around the UK. Despite the fact that the public system is a more dominant provision, those who are willing to pay will be given private healthcare as well as other complementary and alternative treatments.
The public health service of England, namely the National Health Service (NHS), provides the type of healthcare for permanent residents. As it is paid for from the general taxation, these services are free to use. However, healthcare provisions are not all the same all around the UK. Despite the fact that the public system is a more dominant provision, those who are willing to pay will be given private healthcare as well as other complementary and alternative treatments.
Healthcare Services for Patients
If a patient coming from a clinic or hospital will require any specialist care, he or she will be informed by the medical practitioner where to acquire necessary treatment. This will cover private or public hospitals and the NHS will have to pay for treating a patient in a private institution provided that the hospital meets with criteria of service and cost.
If a patient needs immediate medical services, the general practitioner (GP) will have to request for the bypass of normal booking where they can arrange for an emergency admission. Generally, treatment along with the medication administered for almost all NHS hospitals is free. This will include surgical consumables and any appliances loaned or issued.
For instances where a patient chooses to acquire treatment in a private arrangement of NHS hospitals with agreement from a consultant, the patient will be billed. This can also be applicable for insurance companies. This can be done because from the beginning, NHS hospital consultants are given permission to continue private duties and enabled private patients to jump the queue of the NHS.
NHS Healthcare vs US Healthcare
Most developed countries such as the UK rank above the United States in terms of health measurements. This is because of the fact that its citizens have longer life expectancy with lower child or infant mortality rate. More so, the UK has a lot of acute care hospital beds per person with lesser deaths that are related to medical or surgical mishaps.
Accordingly, the impressive performance of Britain has been ranked by the World Health Organisation higher than that of the US. There are measures, however, wherein the US outperforms that of the UK such as the lower rates of cancer mortality.
Existence of Private Health Insurance in the UK
The existence of Britain’s private health insurance works similarly with that of the United States. As incentive for workers, many employers are able to provide private health insurance plans. However, only a few patients choose private medical services over the NHS system. For this reason, they can choose the specialists they want and they are able to get rid of waiting lists intended for non-emergencies.
An average of 8 weeks is given to patients under NHS requiring admission to hospitals. Meanwhile, 4 weeks are given to out-patients and 2 weeks given for those needing diagnostic testing. Although NHS patients can choose the hospital they need to get treated, choosing their own specialists are of no avail to them.