For those still skeptical that government-run health care means rationed health care, here's a little somethin' to nudge you along the road to reality:
"Official figures for April showed 51 trusts - a third - missed the target for 90% of patients to be seen within 18 weeks ... The target for hospitals to see 90% of patients within 18 weeks was to reflect the fact that there needed to be leeway ... Nationally, 90.5% of inpatients ... were seen within this time in April."
It was difficult finding a corresponding stat for American patients - pretty much every study focused on ER wait times - but I did find this little nugget, which at least offers some perspective:
"A 2009 study found that on average the wait in the United States to see a medical specialist is 20.5 days."
The point here is that those who think that shifting to a system run by the Feds is going to magically and drastically improve care are definitely inhaling. Key metrics which we take for granted are noticeably worse under the MVNHS©:
"In the worst performing area - Hastings and Rother - more than a quarter of patients were waiting longer than 18 weeks."
But the "money quote" is right here:
"The problem has been put down to the squeeze in budgets that the NHS has seen in the past year."
So let's sum up: less care, longer waits, more expensive.
Now what does that remind me of?
"Official figures for April showed 51 trusts - a third - missed the target for 90% of patients to be seen within 18 weeks ... The target for hospitals to see 90% of patients within 18 weeks was to reflect the fact that there needed to be leeway ... Nationally, 90.5% of inpatients ... were seen within this time in April."
It was difficult finding a corresponding stat for American patients - pretty much every study focused on ER wait times - but I did find this little nugget, which at least offers some perspective:
"A 2009 study found that on average the wait in the United States to see a medical specialist is 20.5 days."
The point here is that those who think that shifting to a system run by the Feds is going to magically and drastically improve care are definitely inhaling. Key metrics which we take for granted are noticeably worse under the MVNHS©:
"In the worst performing area - Hastings and Rother - more than a quarter of patients were waiting longer than 18 weeks."
But the "money quote" is right here:
"The problem has been put down to the squeeze in budgets that the NHS has seen in the past year."
So let's sum up: less care, longer waits, more expensive.
Now what does that remind me of?
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