I wouldn't hold the NHS up as a paragon of virtue. I got sick on a recent trip to London and tried to get in to see a GP under the NHS and it was impossible.

I wouldn't hold the NHS up as a paragon of virtue. I got sick on a recent trip to London and tried to get in to see a GP under the NHS and it was impossible. The clinics near my hotel only accepted same day bookings. I tried calling just after opening hours and the phone was engaged. I managed to get through 15 minutes after the clinic opened and the clinic was booked out for the day and I would have to call back the next day. I tried a number of clinics and they were all booked out. I was lucky that I wasn't that sick and got better. Otherwise, I was looking at an exorbitant fee to see a private doctor. I was shocked, as I always assumed that the NHS was better than the system we have in Australia. I think that there are lots of perverse incentives involved in Medicine and Healthcare. Government intervention is required to balance out these incentives from profit takers and consumers (i.e. smokers, obesity, etc). I'm not sure that any model in the world right now gets the balance right.