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WHO healthcare ranking: Britain 18th, USA 37th

By tigtog on August 13, 2009

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Article written by tigtog

tigtog (aka Viv) is the founder of this blog. She lives in Sydney, Australia: husband, 2 kids, cat, house, garden, just enough wine-racks and (sigh) far too few bookshelves. You can read more about Viv on her bio page.

2 responses to “WHO healthcare ranking: Britain 18th, USA 37th”

  1. DeusExMacintosh
    DeusExMacintosh
    August 13, 2009 at 9:48 pm |

    From the Guardian article:

    On Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News channel, the conservative commentator Sean Hannity recently alighted upon the case of Gordon Cook, a security manager from Merseyside, who used superglue to stick a loose crown into his gum because he was unable to find an NHS dentist. The cautionary tale, which was based on a Daily Mail report from 2006, prompted Hannity to warn his viewers: “If the Democrats have their way, get your superglue ready.”

    The point which they have of course ignored is not just that Mr Cook was unable to find an NHS dentist (it’s a serious problem) but that HE COULDN’T AFFORD TO PAY FOR A PRIVATE ONE! There are thousands of dentists throughout the UK – there is no shortage of dentists per se, but the vast majority have gone 100% private or maintain only a small ‘list’ of NHS patients alongside their private clients. It is in fact an excellent warning of how an overwhelmingly privatised medical sector (like that in the US) operates. There will be many Fox viewers who have their superglue ready already … so why do you want to deny them access to healthcare Mr Hannity?

    You know as a Brit, I’m getting really p*ssed off about GOP scum bad-mouthing my NHS (we’re quite attached to it over here). If Rupert Murdoch likes America so much perhaps he should restrict his business dealings there – where do I sign up for the boycott?

  2. SunlessNick
    SunlessNick
    August 14, 2009 at 1:45 am |

    It is in fact an excellent warning of how an overwhelmingly privatised medical sector (like that in the US) operates.

    Precisely. Dentistry is one of those parts of the NHS where there has been a significant drive to reduce its market share in favour of the private sector – and the drying up of NHS dentists has happened as a direct result. So as DEM says, it’s an opposite example to the one being claimed.

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