Except that's not the case in other single payer systems ... The NHS has its flaws (having to wait for non-urgent or non life-threatening issues to be treated,

Except that's not the case in other single payer systems ... The NHS has its flaws (having to wait for non-urgent or non life-threatening issues to be treated, but they are in fact treated, just at a lower priority) but if you present at the hospital with chest pains you'll be sorted out straight away, without having to pay up front - free at the source of treatment, one of the founding tenets of the service. It also doesn't preclude a private system that works alongside it, which many companies offer to their employees. This allows you to get seen quicker for the non-urgent stuff - if it's life threatening you'll be taken straight to an NHS hospital, but have your follow up care privately. We pay less of our GDP on healthcare, yet have comparable, if not better, outcomes. With the current "privatisation" that's occurring, vendors are invited to bid for the work, no compelling, it's there if they want it. If nobody comes forward to provide it, the NHS will do it instead.