The National Health Service

President Obama is, quite rightly, trying to fulfil his promise of universal health care in the USA, but, as expected, he is finding that there is opposition to his proposals, most of it ill-founded and from those on the right of American politics who only care about themselves and their profits and who resent government becoming involved in the provision of medical treatment.
Unfortunately, Britain's National Health Service is becoming involved in the debate, and is being used by the oppositon in what appears to be an orchestrated campaign of misinformation with outright lies about the service being spread. As an example, someone has said that, were Ted Kennedy in the UK he would not receive treatment for his brain tumour under the NHS because of his age. This is utter rubbish, as we all know in this country.
So to put things straight, the NHS is something of which we in the UK are rightly proud. We provide free health care for everyone regardless of age, colour, sex or anything else. It costs nothing to go to hospital, other than the cost of your daily newspaper. Not only is it free but if you cannot afford to get to hospital, the NHS provides free transport so that you can get your treatment.
OK I agree the service has some faults. It is a huge organisation - it has to be to cater for 60 million people - and suffers from some organisational problems, as would any business of this size. There are some waiting lists, and in general the more minor your complaint, the longer you will have to wait to see a consultant, with urgent cases being given priority - urgent cases, not patients with the most money ! The waiting lists are coming down, however, as more money is injected into the NHS by a Labour Government which puts people first.
Seeing your GP is now by appointment, and you are usually seen within a few days. If your case is urgent, you are seen the same day.
You might well ask who pays for all this, and the answer is that we all do - through our taxes. There is a direct tax on your earnings and a tax on what we all spend (VAT). The money has to come from somewhere, but at least this is a fair way of raising it.
Britain spends less per head on healthcare than the USA, but life expectancy is longer. The WHO places Britain 18th as against the USA's 37th in provision of quality healthcare.
Having spent some time in the USA I am aware that the concept of "socialised medicine" is anathema to the right-wing. Well, tough. It's time they realised that a fair and just society is more important than profits. Is it just that the top 5 percent own 95 percent of the wealth of the country ? Is it fair that, because you are rich and can afford decent health insurance, you can be looked after and given priority over the poor ? If you think this is the case, think again. Maybe you should be ashamed of yourself. Perhaps it is time to re-evaluate your principles. I hope Barrack Obama will be like our famous outlaw, Robin Hood, and rob the rich to give to the poor. At least he is in a position to do it legally !