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British NHS system


Cec
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Hi everyone

Many people who were relocating or thinking of it told me that the health policy was one of their motives. My photographer and I would like to go and check in England (because we do believe also that France is a couple of years behind England and that we'll sure end having this system too).
Anyone would have ideas of a highlighting place to go or some people to meet ?
thanks very much

Ccile
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My nephew broke his arm and my brother took him to Bedford Hospital where after two hours of waiting they still hadn't even got his details let alone got anyone to see him. My brother lost his temper and said it was like a very poor third world establishment and went 20mins up the M1 to Milton Keynes where they were seen within 30mins and the plastercast was done immediately. It all boiled down to the fact that Bedford came under Labour control and MK under the tories and my brother was going to write to the newspapers about it because Yarlswood Detention Centre, less than 20mins from his home was having forty seven million pounds being spent on it and the local hospital was to be left in the middle ages. However, the NHS were wonderful to my brother in law when he developed Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma three years ago. He was treated by three hospitals at the same time and life saving stem cell treatment has put him in the clear and they even paid for my sister's petrol to visit. Its not the treatment or the staff in the NHS,but the politics and too many white collar workers who have ruined it.
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Just been reading through the thread. It would seem that French Hospitals are related to where you life, perhaps departments get a bigger budget, I don't know.

Years ago, in my youth, we used to have things called 'Cottage Hospitals' for rural communities, thay have now all closed. I now live in rural south west France and can drive to 4 hospitals and thats going north (I don't know about south but there is one in Perpignan). We have one in Quillan (5 mins), Limoux (20 mins), Caracassonne (40 mins) and Toulous (1.5 hrs). When we lived in rural England the nearest was 2 hours away and that didn't have a A&E. Also many of the specialists have there own offices, many with the equipment they need to do their job so a hospital visit is not required. Unlike the UK you have access direct to specialists, missing out the middle man (your GP).

In France I pay for my health cover and top up insurance and really its not that expensive compared to what I paid in the UK even as a high earner. I know some people (because we have had debates on this (or similar) before) have had excellent service in the UK but likewise many have not.

My local Hospital in the UK was Newham General which was only half a mile away, its not funny when you are having a heart attack and have to wait 40 mins for a ambulance. I can tell of my horror story if anyone is interested but its one that goes on and on so I wont bore anyone here.

I have attended hospitals in my area (the first three mentioned above) and cant speak highly enough of them, far, far superior to my English counterpart. In fact the quality is as high as the London Independent which is a leading private hospital.

My only bad experience is glasses; we had to wait 3 weeks for an appointment with an eye doctor because unlike the UK you cant go directly to an optician.

Chris
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  • 4 weeks later...
Having just read all the correspondence on this subject, I could give you a very clear personal experience of NHS hospitals over the past three years and the problems therein both as a carer to my husband and as a patient myself. I have taken issue on two occasions with our local health authority on the various problems which are prevalent in our hospital. This hospital is a 3 star one and currently being approved for one of the new private foundation hospitals. Like all UK hospitals it is severely understaffed especially in specialist areas, such as radiologists and radiographers, specialised nurses, oncologists and physiotherapist. If you would like to contact me direct I can give you a complete breakdown of the problems I experienced here which have been repeated many times over to other patients with the same conditions.

I have previously lived in Spain and I have to say that treatment there was far superior than in this country. I am hoping to move to France as I am tired of fighting for decent hospital treatment in this country.
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