What is the root cause of overcrowded hospitals?

[ollie989898]

Could get the same service here if you pay

No, you can't. There is no private emergency service provision for starters. If you call an ambulance and want private care, where exactly are they going to take you?

And I can tell you now, there are some cases where no amount of money will convince a private provider to take it on. They would rather walk away and insist you use the NHS instead. I have experience of this. Private providers do not like cases involving things like high dependency care. No amount of money will convince them to accept you for say a hip replacement if you fall outside of their usual parameters. You want a private MRI or CT scan fine, they can hand those out like confetti because they are basically zero risk. Surgery, different ball game.

American healthcare is world leading in a lot of ways, not least the average cost per patient (about 4 times the UK average from memory) but their outcomes are not that great and the general health of their populace is woeful.

 

[Pieces_of_Eight]

the general health of their populace is woeful.

Is this partly because people avoid treatment because it costs money?

(almost the polar opposite of our NHS problem)

 

[robs1]

No, you can't. There is no private emergency service provision for starters. If you call an ambulance and want private care, where exactly are they going to take you?

And I can tell you now, there are some cases where no amount of money will convince a private provider to take it on. They would rather walk away and insist you use the NHS instead. I have experience of this. Private providers do not like cases involving things like high dependency care. No amount of money will convince them to accept you for say a hip replacement if you fall outside of their usual parameters. You want a private MRI or CT scan fine, they can hand those out like confetti because they are basically zero risk. Surgery, different ball game.

American healthcare is world leading in a lot of ways, not least the average cost per patient (about 4 times the UK average from memory) but their outcomes are not that great and the general health of their populace is woeful.

I dont know what the problem was with the guy in Canada but three hours in hospital suggests it wasnt that serious perhaps a break that may be difficult to find private treatment here. My father had a hip replacement done privately when 86 he had a dodgy heart, it was done in a private ward in a nhs hospital