National Health Service - or not

My husband and I registered with the National Health Service yesterday.

The NHS is Britain's health care system. UK residents are entitled to free medical treatment, provided it's within the prescribed standards and limits. But you can't just go to any doctor; instead, you enroll on the lists of a local GP. Once you're registered, your GP is your first stop for most medical needs. Obviously, if it's an emergency, the ambulance is allowed to go straight to the emergency room without stopping at the GP's office. But all other health concerns must go through the GP first. If you need a specialist - dermatologist, ob/gyn, cardio - the GP writes a referral.

It sounds like a very civilized system, certainly better than the current US one of HMOs/PPOs/Medicare/insurance premiums/skyrocketing out-of-pocket expenses.

But.

If an American doctor gave out the same recommendations re: frequency of tests as the NHS, the American doctor would be sued for malpractice.

Mammogram: Only for women over 50, and then only every three years (!)
Pap Smear: Every three to five years (!)

What, they think cancer cells are on a three year cycle??

And the British government has recently recommended that people only need to see the dentist once every two years (if they aren't experiencing any problems, that is.) Nice to see that stereotypes about English orthodontia will be alive and well for years to come, apparently!

While the referral system sounds quite orderly, it can take months to see a specialist. The people with whom I work schedule their job around their medical appointments, rather than vice versa, because if they miss their appointment that's it for many moons. The newspapers are full of stories about dirty NHS facilities where the MRSA superbug breeds unchecked. Today's Guardian contained a heartbreaking story about a German couple who lost their baby after a normal birth went disasterously wrong because of a shortage of NHS hospital personnel.

Nonetheless, Britain is full of hale and hearty people so obviously the NHS is doing something right. I hope.

Please keep your fingers crossed we stay healthy and accident-free!