I'm not sure anyone can comment unless they have lived in a nother country, as we have nothing to compare it to!

In Britain we are facing our own issues with the NHS. The big bug bears over here are things like the post code lottery (if you live in one part of the country and have cancer, a life saving drug may be available to you, where in another part of the country, the local management have decided that it's too expensive and therefore not available). We also have issues with superbugs since hospitals are a) unclean and b) getting old with no funds to replace them with newer/refurbished facilities. Some of these issues come from being one of the oldest National Healthcare schemes there is (we have similar issues with our rail and sewage networks - the disadvantages of being among the first to establish them). The list is endless when it comes to faults and vulnerabilities in our system, especially when it comes to overworked and underpaid staff, who for the most part do a fantastic job.

In terms of personal experience, I am very lucky in that I have had little need for much medical care, but I felt that my antenatal care and subsequent birth experience was fantastic. I also know, that I am in the minority of women I know who say that and I have heard their horror stories. I think our system works well if you remember that it is free. As soon as you start to think that you have a 'right' to a home birth in a pool with two midwives there attending solely to your needs or whatever it is that you want, then I think you're going to be disappointed. Healthcare is all about what you NEED not what you would like and our NHS provides a fairly no frills service. I certainly think they do the best they can with their limited resources although like most government run operations I do see an awful lot of wasted money - mainly wasted on middle managers who are all about 'target chasing' and not about patient care.

So to sum up, I don't have a clue if it's a good or better system than in the states, although certainly over there it's a lot more clear cut 'If you can pay for it, you can have it, if you can't, then tough'. The moral implications of that system, are a whole different ball game though.

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