"Gwen's Brother-in-Law: An Update" Topic

Every time I read something like this it makes me think how lucky we are in the UK with our NHS. You can call it "socialised medicine" but everyone gets cared for.

Sure we have private health care and I did well out of providing such for decades, but my priority was genuinely my NHS practice (UK spelling) and national and academic work.

This is not the USSR, this is anyone gets free health care whatever their means and to a very high standard. OK it costs.

My favourite is still the tale of the US couple when I was a very junior doc in UCH Casualty central London. She had a Colles fracture, I reduced it, splinted and plastered it in a POP and typed out a summary to take home. This was 1977 and no PCs then. They asked about billing and could not believe my response….

My understanding is that there's a two-tiered system in the Philippines – the free public hospitals and the for-pay private hospitals. The free hospitals are avoided at all costs, if families can possibly find the money for the private hospitals.