Apart from the poll questions being a little misleading, the question is important.
Lessons from the UK NHS
A lot of emotion is aroused in this debate from a position of ideology instead of pragmatic rationality. The guiding principles of healthcare delivery should to be debated and settled before we get into the details on how to achieve them. "Free at the point of delivery" is one of the guiding principles in the NHS as is "choice". To achieve this, the NHS is able to flex its capacity when needed by buying services from private providers on behalf of NHS patients. That is a smart way to deliver care and is aligned with the principle of "free at the point of delivery". In addition, all UK tax payers must contribute to the NHS through their National Insurance contributions, like Canadians do through Medicare. The principle of "choice" is satisfied in many ways including the freedom to purchase private health insurance and to pay for private medical care.
We hear the argument that a private healthcare system would lure doctors away from the public system into the private system. The reality in the UK is quite the opposite. The ability for medical staff to earn private income in addition to their NHS income is attractive and helps the country to retain high quality doctors. Of course, the system isn't perfect and doctors spend time in both sectors but, on balance, the debate over how much we pay our doctors out of taxation revenues is less contentious in circumstances when doctors are free to operate (within limits) in a parallel private health sector. It is well understood amongst UK doctors that they have to be busy in the NHS to be successful in their private practice; a factor that sustains the public system medical workforce.
Paul Brownrigg
President
INSITE Consultancy Inc.
Apart from the poll questions being a little misleading, the question is important.
Lessons from the UK NHS
A lot of emotion is aroused in this debate from a position of ideology instead of pragmatic rationality. The guiding principles of healthcare delivery should to be debated and settled before we get into the details on how to achieve them. "Free at the point of delivery" is one of the guiding principles in the NHS as is "choice". To achieve this, the NHS is able to flex its capacity when needed by buying services from private providers on behalf of NHS patients. That is a smart way to deliver care and is aligned with the principle of "free at the point of delivery". In addition, all UK tax payers must contribute to the NHS through their National Insurance contributions, like Canadians do through Medicare. The principle of "choice" is satisfied in many ways including the freedom to purchase private health insurance and to pay for private medical care.
We hear the argument that a private healthcare system would lure doctors away from the public system into the private system. The reality in the UK is quite the opposite. The ability for medical staff to earn private income in addition to their NHS income is attractive and helps the country to retain high quality doctors. Of course, the system isn't perfect and doctors spend time in both sectors but, on balance, the debate over how much we pay our doctors out of taxation revenues is less contentious in circumstances when doctors are free to operate (within limits) in a parallel private health sector. It is well understood amongst UK doctors that they have to be busy in the NHS to be successful in their private practice; a factor that sustains the public system medical workforce.
Paul Brownrigg
President
INSITE Consultancy Inc.