@marick The NHS is one of the best things ever invented, IMHO.

@marick the surveys say that confidence in the NHS has been falling, not surprising given a mix of organisational turmoil, broken funding, and a sustained attack from the right wing press (and the significant proportion of MPs with interests in private medicine). At its best it’s stunning, although the “hotel” aspects can be grim. At its worst it can be dire. But at least we don’t have diabetics rationing their insulin.

@marick I think there are very few Brits who want to get rid of the NHS. We all want it to be better, of course, and there are always grumblings, but it’s generally considered to be a good thing. And that’s across the political divide.

@marick@mstdn.social (UK perspective) ​I think there's a couple of things in play there. In the short term, the NHS is going through a historically rough patch at the moment and has been for a while, so that tends to get more focus internally than comparing it to external systems.

The other is that most Brits don't really have a good handle on how the US system works - you can find some videos of people asking Brits on the street about, for example, the cost of giving birth in the US and they have no idea.

@marick Brits think that the NHS is great in theory and sometimes frustrating in their specific interactions. Switching to American style healthcare lands like a threat of physical assault.