Its A&E But not as we know it - You can't turn up if your having an emergency!

[Doggit]

Even in the UK, it's never free, just free at the point of use. You pay for the NHS through your taxes, and when you want treatment, you just walk in to your GP. If you want to avoid the hassle of mixing with the hoi paloi, then you ring the GPs private number, and then pay for the visit. And if the NHS treatment isn't quick enough, then you can pay privately to jump the queue. Alternatively, you can take out medical insurance on a montly premium, and you'll still end up with the same doctor, the same hospital, and the same treatment, but the meals will be better, and it'll get done quicker.

Now, the NHS is comprosed of hospitals that have been built by the government, and some built by private companies, and if the NHS can't cope with the numbers, then they will decide to outsource you treatment to a private hospital, and this is where everyone screams that the NHS is being privatised, but it isn't it's just outsourcing your treatment, and that can be to a UK hospital, or one in the EU, but you don't pay for these treatments, so the're not being privatised.

So the NHS gets paid for by your taxes, and the Private hospital gets paid when you go to it direct, or when the NHS outsources your treatment to it.

 

[transam]

Documentary on TV a good while back on Broadmoor hospital they said it costs £250,000 a year per patient to keep them in there

(may have been £300,000 ??)

 

[Judy in the sky]

Documentary on TV a good while back on Broadmoor hospital they said it costs £250,000 a year per patient to keep them in there

(may have been £300,000 ??)

Yep, apparently they have rather expensive locks on the doors.

 

[vinty]

What happens if you take ill in the middle of the night, would you have to call out a doctor to get permission to go to A&E.
Wouldn't having to get permission from a doctor to go to A&E just add another layer of bureaucracy and waste your time and the doctor's time.

 

[vinty]

The German government health insurance (GKV) is a hypothecated tax system.

The NHS is tax funded model.

Different

Please enlighten me where I said the system was better?

One interesting point is that the German system comprises 2/3 private owned hospitals and the majority of GPs are self employed. So not state owned.

Maybe we should adopt an American style system were they spend almost twice as much of their GDP on health care as the UK and the only thing they get in return is a lower life expectancy and personal bankruptcy because of medical bills.
Either way you have to pay for health care, you can pay through taxation or pay for private health insurance which may be ok when you are young and healthy but as you get older the insurance companies don't want to know as there is no profit to be made.