Socialize Health Care UK Style (this even shocked me)

@andy77e (5156)
United States
October 25, 2012 12:08am CST
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/9591814/Patients-starve-and-die-of-thirst-on-hospital-wards.html UK NHS health care is so wonderful so great, so awesome. Seriously, listen to this. This is sick... even I, being as against socialized health care as I am, even though I've been against it for the past 15 years... I was stunned by this one. STUNNED. If they even made up HALF of this report, it's still SICK! Where's Michael Moron now? Why wasn't this is his stupid movie Sicko? Forty-three hospital patients starved to death last year and 111 died of thirst while being treated on wards, new figures disclose today. ...what?... [b]The Office for National Statistics figures also showed that: * as well as 43 people who starved to death, 287 people were recorded by doctors as being malnourished when they died in hospitals[/b] Starved to death? INSIDE the hospital? And the doctors were kind of enough to record they were malnourished... BUT NOT KIND ENOUGH TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT?!? [b] * there were 558 cases where doctors recorded that a patient had died in a state of severe dehydration in hospitals; * 78 hospital and 39 care home patients were killed by bedsores[/b] Bedsores. Bedsores? BEDSORES....!?! Are you kidding me? Is this a joke? Mr Cameron announced that nurses would have to undertake hourly ward rounds to check whether patients are hungry, in pain, or need help going to the lavatory. It followed spot checks by NHS regulators, which found that half of 100 hospitals were failing basic standards to treat elderly with dignity, and ensure they were properly fed. The freakin Prime Minister of the UK, has to make a regulation to get Nurses to freakin check if patient ARE HUNGRY?!!? HEY BRITS: THIS IS GOOD HEALTH CARE?!?! [b]In many wards nurses were dumping meal trays in front of patients too weak to feed themselves and then taking them away again untouched. The investigation found patients were left hungry, unwashed or given the wrong drugs because of the "casual indifference of staff". [/b] This is socialism. This is death to patients. This is what we would expect in a 3rd world country with Chinese witch doctors. *ENGLAND* PEOPLE! This is going on right now in England! And you want Obama to take care of you? You want government run health care? You want to "save money" because government can do it cheaper? Really? Let me spells this out people. Why is this happening? It's really simple. When these people die, what happens to the nurses? To the staff? To the hospital? To the nursing homes? What happens? Nothing. They all get paid. Government pays them whether you live or die. Whether you are happy or sad. Whether you are STARVING TO DEATH, or not. "casual indifference of staff" HELLO?!?! CLUE PHONE??? You know what happens in a pay-for-service system? Know what happens in a Capitalist based hospital? If I heard that a patient DIED OF THIRST in my local hospital, I would never go there. I would go anywhere else. I would go to a different hospital. The other hospital would lose my money. They would lose a valued customer. If they lost too many, they'd lose their whole business. That hospital wouldn't exist, and other hospitals that did a better job, would take their place. Places failing to take care of customers fail to stay in business. But of course in the UK, you are not a valued, nor are you customer. You can die of BEDSORES, and they still get paid. Unbelievable. And you people want this? You Brits on this forum, this is your great system? This is the system you love? Really?!?! NHS is so great huh?!? Sick. Just sick. All you leftist, Euro socialists, big government people... I'll take my capitalist health care system over your total crap any day.
2 people like this
4 responses
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
25 Oct 12
I don't know how long it's going to take people to realize that government never does anything well. It does not administrate effectively, it doesn't spend wisely, it never comes in under budget and in order to pay for a program it raises taxes and cuts services. There is so much evidence of government's inability to do anything effectively, it is amazing that anyone could be in favor of putting anything under government authority. These horror stories about socialized medicine come up frequently. But when you are creating a class war, those in favor of the system always bring up some sob story about someone who couldn't afford health insurance. Well, we have programs to fill those gaps, those cases are not good enough reason to scrap everyone's health care options and force everyone into a government program.
1 person likes this
@andy77e (5156)
• United States
25 Oct 12
Exactly. And most of the people who "can't afford health care" still get really good care, better than most in the world. Even then, the majority can afford care, they simple CHOOSE not to buy health insurance. That's a choice, and it's a choice only they, and they alone should pay for by not getting the care they want. I don't earn enough for a new car. I don't expect everyone else to pay for my car simply because I have not worked hard to be able to buy one.
1 person likes this
@dainy1313 (2370)
• Leon, Mexico
11 Nov 12
Hello andy77e and rollo, it`s sad but it`s true, it`s reality. It`s what happens all the world around. If you want better education and health you have to look it forward the government care. Don´t you think so? I take my children to private schools, and to private doctors, I have to work hard and not . That´s life. Isn´t it? Blessings for both... dainy
@bestboy19 (5478)
• United States
25 Oct 12
I think many want this kind of system because they believe it takes responsibility off of them and because they think it cost them nothing. I agree with you. I'd rather have the capitalist system over the socialist system any day. I don't want to have to depend on something so incompetent as the federal government.
@bestboy19 (5478)
• United States
26 Oct 12
You know what Margaret Thatcher said, "After a while you run out of someone elses money."
@andy77e (5156)
• United States
26 Oct 12
That is clearly part of it. Somewhere back in 2009, there was a survey where they asked people if they supported government run universal health care. The first question was do you want it. A large majority said they wanted it. Then they asked a number of follow up questions. Do you support it, if you have to pay an additional 0.5% in taxes? More than half of the people who originally said they supported it, said no. Then they asked 1% taxes, only about 20% of the original supporters still supported it. By the time they got to 3%, there was only a tiny tiny number of people who said they still supported it, and no one went for 5% in taxes. The very second you explain to people that they themselves will have to pay for government run health care, the number of supporters evaporate. Everyone is living in the mythical world where the mystical "rich" will pay for all their programs. Reality is very different.
@evanslf (484)
27 Oct 12
All systems have their problems, their inefficiencies and their failings. The UK healthcare system is undoubtedly not perfect and nor are others. Apparently France has the best system, according to a study I read recently. What can be said though is that the US system is appaulling, with millions of people not getting coverage, with it swallowing 17% of US GDP, the UK system at 8% of GDP is pretty cheap at the price! Bad stories can always be found, particularly is someone is keen to push an agenda (ie privatise it). The fact remains though that the vast majority of British citizens support the NHS because, on the whole, they get good treatment when they need it, and that has also been my experience. Most importantly, in the UK, people don't have to worry about their healthcare bills, will they qualify for healthcare coverage? No such worries for people in the UK and THAT is very important. So yes, there will be stories about bad nurses, people waiting on trolleys, bedsores, etc etc, but that does not invalidate a whole system, it is rather a local failing in a particular hospital, a failure of local management. That's why we have regulators to deal with that sort of thing.
@anklesmash (1412)
25 Oct 12
One point I would have to make is that not everyone in the UK that supports state healthcare is a socialist.The NHS is supported by most people and most political parties.This may surprise you but the US spends more public health per population than the UK does according to the Health Data 2009 report of OECD countries.With this the US manages to provide healthcare for the elderly with Medicare,the poor with Medicaid.Most OECD countries manage to provide head,care for all.The US also only has about the average number of nurses per size of population and a below average number of doctors.In both cases the figure is similar to that of Britain but Britain has a higher life expectancy and lower rates of infant mortality.The US has a life expectancy below the US average and childhood mortality similar to that of Slovakia. The only area in which the US is doing best is in technology such as MRI scanners etc.