Medicine in BritainIn Britain there is a National Health Service (NHS) which is paid for by taxes and National Insurance, and in general people do not have to pay for medical treatment; but people do sometimes have to pay part of the cost of drugs that the doctor prescribes. Every person is registered with a doctor in their local area, know as general practitioner or GP. This means that their name is on the GP’s list, and they may make an appointment to see the doctor or may call the doctor out to visit them if they are ill. Registering with a doctor is a useful and efficient way, which brings convenience to both patients and doctors. GPs are trained in general medicine but are not specialists in any particular subject.
If a patient needs to see a specialist doctor, they must first go to their GP and then the GP will make an appointment for the patient to see a specialist at a hospital or clinic. So generally speaking, the specislist will have enough time give careful exam and perfect treat to the patients. Although everyone in Britain can have free treatment under the National Health Service. It is also possible to have treatment done privately, for which one has to pay. Some people have private health insurance to help them pay for private treatment. Under the NHS, people who need to go to hospital may have to wait for a long time on a waiting list for their treatment.
If they pay for the treatment, they will probably get it quickly. I think this phenomenon is not good and unfair. If some poor people have serious illness, they also have to wait in a long queue; so the result may be very bad. Luckily, nowadays the Britain government is discussing to put out more effective meatures. Medicine in the USUnlike Britain, the US does not have a national health care service. The government does help pay for some medical care for people who are on low incomes and for the old, but most people buy insurance to help pay for medical care.
Some people cannot afford insurance but are not poor enough to get government help. The cost of medical insurance and the problems of those who can not afford it are an important political subject. I suggest that the government should put people into several categories. For example, the poorest, the less poorer, and the people having common income.
Then the government give them different help according to their incomes. In the US, people wont stay in hospital for a long time after operation. That is decisided by medicinal policy there. The longer patient stays in hospital, the much money the insurance company has to pay. So the teartment time will be figured out by doctors accurately.
That indicates though the America is a country which has good material benefits, there still has not sufficient funds for medicine. When people are ill, they usually go first to a general practitioner or internist. Unlike in Britain, however, people sometimes go straight to a specialist, without seeing their general practitioner first. Children are usually taken to a pediatrician (a doctor who is a specialist in the treatment of children).
As in Britain, if a patient needs to see a specialist doctor, their general doctor will usually give them the name of one. On the contrary, the American doctors don not go to people’s homes when they are ill. People always make appointments to see the doctor in the doctor’s office. In emergencies, people call for an ambulance. Hospital must treat all emergency patients, even if the patient does not have medical insurance. Obviously, compared with that in Britain, going to see a specialist directly when come across emergency is more convenient.
But do you know seeing a specislist needs a lot of money, so it is impossible for the poor to do so. And the facilities in big hospital are advanced than that in clinic, the poor also have difficulty to afford it. To sum up this two kinds of medical patterns in two countries, the best advantage is the national insurance, which is much more than that in China. The disadvantage is that it may be expensive to see a private doctor. Because of the different levels of incomes, the rich and the poor will have unfair treatments. So the two governments should make out more reasonable medicinal policies to satisfy the peoples needs.
Quotations:http://news.xinhuanet.com/overseas/2005-09/22/content_3526233.htmhttp://www.chinainfo.gov.cn/data/200512/1_20051223_125054.html
