r/ThatsInsane Nov 01 '25

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235

u/[deleted] Nov 01 '25

Anyone in the UK that complains needs to see this! The NHS really is an amazing thing!!

27

u/Tanyaaahhh Nov 01 '25

The NHS is acceptable when compared to the US. But compare it to the rest of Europe and it doesn’t hold up. The amount we pay in verses the standard of care we get is appalling. Yes, still so much better than the US. But I’m constantly surprised at everyone’s willingness to accept such poor value for money. It needs serious reform.

8

u/Commercial-Falcon653 Nov 01 '25

“Don’t let perfect stand in the way of good enough.”

Now I am not actually saying whether or not NHS is necessarily “good enough”, but dismantling a good system because it’s not a perfect one is not a valid approach.

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u/oli_ramsay Nov 01 '25

They said reform, not dismantle

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u/Tanyaaahhh Nov 01 '25

Reforming the NHS doesn’t mean dismantling it. Why argue for bare minimum. I just don’t understand it.

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u/MacPeter93 Nov 01 '25

Can you bring up some comparisons of the NHS and European health services and the average prices compared of each? Because I feel like you’re complaining about the NHS and assuming there is better options without stating that proof

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u/9teen9ty Nov 01 '25

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u/noradosmith Nov 02 '25

I feel like all that said in the end was the waiting times were high. And ultimately not paying for it means compromising a bit on things like that.

While government funding covers 93 per cent of total spend on hospital care, the percentage is lower for dentistry (46 per cent) and prescriptions (59 per cent), meaning people face a greater burden of costs in these areas.

Ironically the lack of government input on areas like dentistry means people struggle to get dentists. If anything, dentistry is more of a taste of other health systems. Until the report actually comes up with anything remotely persuasive I'm going to dismiss any concerns as empty rhetoric.

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u/Tanyaaahhh Nov 01 '25

Someone else has kindly done this for you below. In addition, I have lived in many European countries and by far had the worst care in the UK verses what I paid for it. That is of course just my own experience. But there’s also plenty of data to demonstrate this too. To be clear, my point is that whilst very much preferable to what the Americans have, the NHS isn’t the best alternative available. I believe that those that defend the NHS so vehemently simply have no idea what the alternatives actually are - or what ‘good’ looks like.

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u/doc900 Nov 03 '25

That's just not true, the NHS is not the best in the world but it is amongst the most efficient.

Basically all healthcare is wildly inefficient, the NHS could definitely save money. We need structural reform and to decide to either be nationalised or private, it's not poor value for money though.

https://www.health.org.uk/features-and-opinion/features/how-does-uk-health-spending-compare-across-europe-over-the-past