The NHS in the UK is wonderful, and I have had reason to be grateful on several occasions for their good care. People complain about all sorts of things, from the food to the slowness of the nurses in dashing to their summons, but that's petty.
True it is creaking at the seams a bit now, but it is under funded, and that comes from two sides, lack of government funding, and an unexpectedly large increase in customers. There are so many people benefiting from it's care who have never paid anything in to the system. I know there is a mechanism for levying charges on those who do not actually qualify, after they have received their car, but I believe it is not invoked very often. So the government is in a double bind, an inability to forecast the numbers that will require treatment, and under contributing from the users of the service.
It is time that people were surcharged according to their ability to pay, with those who earn most paying most.
I mean a 3 tier system where an over night stay will cost either nothing for the less well off, something like £5 for the better off, and £10 for those with deeper pockets. A&E and ambulance services continue to be free at the point of delivery as the jargon has it.
I've been in Greek hospitals, and I know where I'm better off health care wise!
G.