Wednesday 15 April 2015

Freedom to choose?

          I believe that every civilized country needs a a health care system that ensures that every citizen have coverage for consultation and treatment of any serious or potentially serious condition.    Medical  care is expensive and there is tremendous waste within the system.   This results in rationing of one sort or another, whether you call it that or something else.  A waiting list for your hip surgery of a year or more is nothing more or less than rationing.  Even potentially serious conditions have unacceptably long waiting periods, sometimes  with disastrous results.  Anything that can decompress the system and make urgent/emergent care more readily available in a timely fashion deserves serious consideration, even if it does not fit in with the politically correct concepts of the day.
          So let's  look at how immigrant working class Poles in Britain deal with the National Health Service shortcomings.  The 'My Medyk' Clinic in West London opened in 2008 and has over 30,000 patients on its list.  It has opened a second branch and is considering opening a third.   These private clinics consist of family Physicians/ General practitioners, pediatricians, gynecologists and dentists.  The physicians are Polish speaking, although many of the patients  speak  fluent English.  They have succeeded in selling their services to working and middle class people who could get it for nothing from  the NHS.  How can one explain this?  The  clinics charge fixed fees and have no  other sources of income for consultations and treatment which are published on their website.  This means that they have to build  up a clientele who feel that what they are paying for is substantially better than they get from  the National Health System.  The clinics invest in diagnostic equipment and can perform investigations such as ultrasound and bloodwork.   The Physicians are not afraid of hard work and sometimes the office stays open until two or three  in the morning and on Sundays.  Although set up originally to meet the  needs of Britain's growing Polish population, the clinics are attracting people of diverse nationalities  and a broad range of backgrounds.  They are providing a service that neither the British NHS nor the Canadian Health Care service seems to be able to match in a number of ways, not least of which is that patients can usually be seen the same day if they feel it is  necessary.   Weekend and night hours are available and that allows people to get medical attention without taking a day off work.
          Until our Canadian Health system can or will match such services, it is hard to understand why Canadians are not allowed to avail of  this  sort of service.  After all, they are paying for it with their own money as well as supporting the national health program with  their tax dollars and thus contributing more than the average end user.  Or is it just a case of 'politically correct' no matter what the cost or inconvenience to citizens?

If you have any views on this freedom to choose, feel free to comment.
            

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