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Comment by credit_guy | Hacker News Reader

> I've experienced medicine in both the UK and the US. I can tell you, there isn't a difference in quality.

My experience was very different. In January-February this year I had to visit (unfortunately) both the Emergency Room in NYC and the A&E in London. While the quality of the medical equipment in London matches the one in NYC, the understaffing is much more severe. In neither place was my wait time only 10 minutes, but in NYC I had to wait for about 1 hour (including paperwork), while in London for about 6 hours.

I talked with other people in London about my experience that the medical system is severely understaffed, and all agreed. On the plus side, I did not have to pay anything in the UK (they didn't even care that I was not a UK resident). In the US I had to pay north of $1000, despite having insurance.

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My Girlfriend managed to stick her finger in a blender in January. We went to a London hospital, got seen by a doctor within 1 hour (she had stitches within 20 minutes of arriving) and she had plastic surgery on her finger that evening. For free.

Different A&E departments have different problems. The NHS is the largest employer in Europe, and it's reductive to say "all London hospitals are understaffed". They are not. Part of the problem is seasonal and even daily shifts in A&E visits, you can't staff for the worst case all the time. And January/Feb is known to be a busy couple of months.

In Boston I recently had to wait in an emergency room for 5 hours with multiple broken bones. This was at one of the best rated hospitals in the country.

I recently moved to a new state and I’m trying to get set up with a new primary care provider. I’ve been trying to get an appointment for six months, but they keep bumping my appointment back. Did I mention that I had to settle for a nurse because none of the doctors in my area are accepting new patients?

Nurse or Nurse practitioner?

I think for most people in the bottom 80-90% of earners would happily take a six hour wait to avoid a $1000 fee.

This weekend I was feeling incredibly sick and there were ketones in my urine (potentially deadly for me). We got there at 9p.m and weren't seen until 2a.m. They stuck us in the room where they keep patients with potential mental health issues because they were so full so I didn't even have access to a charging outlet. We have good insurance. The US healthcare system is often times just as understaffed. Both can be terrible experiences but one can potentially bankrupt me.

>> I talked with other people in London about my experience that the medical system is severely understaffed, and all agreed.

That is because NHS spending is being slashed viciously. Obviously, if socialised medicine is being dismantled, it can't be expected to work all that well anymore.

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