Perhaps there is a way to implement it efficiently as a state run service, but

my point is that the UK needs to stop panicking about the word private and understand what that means in the context of countries like NL and France and not the USA and BUPA variations. The USA/BUPA model is indeed a very dangerous path down which to go. Be open minded and look at systems which work really well. I would say that's an obvious course of action to anybody.

However, I also think that in a two party country like the UK then a state run health system is really at the mercy of vote hunting being a greater priority than it should. What works well here is a private, subsidised system, where the higher earners pay more, but the system and insurance are both not run but regulated strongly by the government. That gives some control to prevent a USA style situation and health being put at risk due to profit making, whilst not having to rely on unqualified civil servants to manage it, and also reduces the government's influence on detail.

I was in a relationship a doctor for 8 years and never heard of the kinds of shifts the UK junior doctors are famous for either, by the way.

Posted By: Steve in Holland, Jan 8, 14:50:20