The filth of socialized medicine

As many of you know, I was born and raised in the UK. I have seen the NHS (National Health Service) indeed I was born in one of these glorious socialist hospitals.

As many of you also know, I absolutely and emphatically deplore anything socialist, including said healthcare system. As Ringo star once said ‘Everything the government touches turns to crap’ and this can be said of the healthcare system in Britain.

While the US system might not be perfect (and I draw it down to government interference to begin with) we can all agree that it has the best services to offer. The US outspends every other nation on the planet for healthcare, and it really does show in its services. We have more beds, more equipment and more staff.

Some of my friends and family in England will argue with me about this, saying that the US healthcare system is too expensive, and that we should have FREE healthcare like Britain does. It truly does grind my gears to hear them say this because they are all mostly very intelligent people and I love them dearly. On this particular issue though they are dead wrong. In fact, I would go as far to say; ignorance is bliss.

The UK healthcare system is a broken socialist nightmare, with long waiting lines for treatments in germ ridden hallways. While my friends and family claim that it’s free, and that everyone is covered, I have to point out ‘covered by what?’

In the UK, if you get injured; you get treated, in the US, if you get injured; you get treated. There’s not much difference, except that in the US if you don’t have health insurance you’ll get a large bill for the service. This doesn’t mean you won’t get treated, just that you’ll have to pay for it. There are systems set up to help you pay for this service. And while it can be a financial burden on your family, the choice for health coverage is your own, and there are plenty of services to help you pay for said treatment.

In the UK if you get cancer, you can wait weeks or even months for treatment; the difference between life and death. In the US, you can receive treatment immediately, with far better resources at hand to help combat the disease.

I remember a story my friend told me once about his grandfather; it was discovered that he had heart problems and urgently needed a quadruple heart bypass surgery. Without the surgery he was told he would have only 6 months left to live. He was put on a one year waiting list. The socialist system he had paid into his entire life had failed him in his hour of need. Luckily for him, his old friends all got together and set aside some money to send him to another country for private treatment.

Another story; this time about my sister. She gave birth to her son in the UK, and was put on a ward with three other mothers who had just given birth. My Mum told me the story the other day, of how the IV was held in place by masking tape, and how there was a restroom at the end of the hallway, that all the mothers who had just given birth had to walk down in order to relieve themselves. Add on top of this the fact that in order to free up bed space, they discharged my sister the day after she had given birth, before my nephew was fully stabilized and had begun feeding. The next day he was rushed into hospital because his blood sugar levels weren’t right, and he was shaking a lot. They ended up spending the next week in hospital to monitor him.

Compare this with my sister in law, who gave birth to her son in the US last year. She had her own private room and rest room. There were clean beds galore and sparkling new equipment decorating the hallways and private birthing rooms. There was even a food delivery service for meals. Compare this to the food service in UK hospitals, one of which is the hospital I was born in:

Revealed: The NHS hospital kitchens overrun by mice and cockroaches… and how three in four break food hygiene rules

• Inspectors found ‘serious cockroach infestation that posed an imminent health risk’ and mouse droppings at Queen Mary’s Hospital, Sidcup
• Brown sauce a YEAR past its best before found at Workington Hospital
  
• 30 per cent of hospital kitchens were dirty, inspectors found
• 62 kitchens were found to be stocking out of date
  
• Six hospital kitchens had mice, two had rats and five had cockroaches
• MailOnline obtained copies of inspection reports for hospitals nationwide
  

By ROB COOPER

PUBLISHED: 08:10 EST, 13 October 2013 | UPDATED: 09:17 EST, 13 October 2013

Hundreds of hospital kitchens across the country are dirty, have cockroach and mice infestations or are stocking out of date food, a MailOnline investigation has revealed.

Inspectors found that three-quarters of kitchens are flouting basic food hygiene rules while nearly a third were not properly cleaned.

Six NHS hospitals had mice, two had rats, five had cockroaches and another hospital had an unspecified problem with ‘pests’.

 

Infestation: Cockroach egg cases found by inspectors in an undercroft at Queen Mary’s Hospital in Sidcup during an inspection last year. They wrote that they posed ‘an imminent health risk’. The pictures were in documents released to the MailOnline under the Freedom of Information Act

 

 

Large cockroaches: A number of dead cockroaches are photographed in a trap in an undercroft by an environmental health inspector investigating the kitchens at Queen Mary’s Hospital, Sidcup

 

 

‘Serious infestation’: More cockroaches can be seen on the wall and ceiling of the undercroft in another photo taken by environmental health teams from Bexley Council

 

The figures will raise fears that patients are being put at risk by dirty kitchens and staff ignoring proper hygiene policy.

Nationwide, hospitals spend as little as £3 a day per patient – and 82,000 meals a day are thrown out.

Campaigners said it is unacceptable that the public never find out about dirty kitchens ‘until they are teased out using Freedom of Information requests’.

An analysis of 769 environmental health inspection reports revealed that 581 hospitals across Britain are breaking the rules.

Inspectors found 229 kitchens were dirty while a further 62 were stocking out of date food.

The MailOnline obtained copies of reports carried out by environmental health teams under the Freedom of Information Act.

Inspectors at Queen Mary’s Hospital in Sidcup, Kent, found mouse droppings and a ‘serious cockroach infestation that posed an imminent risk to health’ in an undercroft last November.

The Bexley Council workers found there had been a cockroach ‘population explosion’ – but it had been missed by pest control teams.

‘Imminent health risk’: Inspectors at Queen Mary’s Hospital, Sidcup, found a cockroach infestation and mouse droppings

Pests: Mouse droppings are seen on a shelf by inspectors at Queen Mary’s Hospital, Sidcup. They carried out four follow-up visits

 

 

 

Dirt: A fat and grease deposit is seen in the undercroft at Queen Mary’s Hospital, Sidcup. After the inspection in November 2012 they carried out a deep clean

 

Mess: Inspectors take pictures of rubbish abandoned beneath lockers during their inspection at Queen Mary’s Hospital, Sidcup

 

Cleaning concerns: Inspectors took this picture which shows dirt in the corners of the kitchen which had not been properly cleaned at Queen Mary’s Hospital

HOSPITAL KITCHENS WITH COCKROACHES, RATS AND MICE

• Queen Mary’s Hospital, Sidcup – inspectors found mouse droppings and a ‘serious cockroach infestation that posed an imminent health risk’
• Burnley General Hospital – oriental cockroaches found in ‘various parts’ of the kitchen
• Western General Hospital, Edinburgh – cockroaches were found
• Hillingdon Hospital, London, staff were told to put down insect detectors to stop ‘increased activity’ from cockroaches
• Royal Oldham Hospital – Two cockroaches were found in the raw food preparation area in March. Inspectors also found out of date yoghurts in a ward fridge
• Whipps Cross University Hospital in Waltham Forest, London, mice droppings were found in a dry store area
• Mile End Hospital, London, inspectors found mouse droppings on shelves in the kitchen
• St Charles’ Hospital, London – Mouse droppings were found on the floor
• Manor Hospital, Walsall – A mouse was seen in the kitchen in what inspectors said ‘appears to be an isolated incident
• Wirral University Teaching Hospital, Merseyside – Inspectors found ‘old mouse droppings’ in the corner of the kitchen
• Sandwell Acute Psychiatric Hospital – inspectors wrote that there was ‘rat activity’ outside, according to pest control records
• West Park Rehabilitation Hospital, Wolverhampton – a dead rat was found in an electrical cupboard
• Kent and Canterbury Hospital – ‘pests’ were found next to the kitchen

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2441248/NHS-hospital-kitchens-overrun-mice-cockroaches.html#ixzz2hcALi7Fz 
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You can read more by clicking on the link.

As you can see, while many of my friends and family claim that his service is ‘free’ I have to point out that it is not, and that their taxes pay for it. That money would be better spent on private healthcare. When they tell me healthcare is too expensive and that the poor will suffer, I tell them that there are charities that can help with getting the poor coverage when they need it most.

The same people that tell me the US healthcare system is too expensive are the same people who deny there is anything wrong with the UK health system. While I agree there are flaws in the US health system. I’ll take it any day over Britain’s socialist healthcare system. The difference in service is undeniable.