[xs83]

UK and Australia.

The pros and cons are the same pros and cons you get with any system that has some form of centralised control.

The main one comes down to triage, if you need / want a procedure that isnt life threatening or helps your quality of life you can expect a long wait or not being able to get it. For example - any kind of cosmetic surgery isnt going to be done for free unless it affects your quality of life (e.g. Rhinoplasty for deviated septum)

If your situation is an emergency you get seen pretty quickly - otherwise it can take a while - as an example my mother needed a knee replacement - it took almost a year from when the doctor recognised the need for her to actually have it done. But it got done and didnt cost a penny.

She could have gone private, had it done the following week and paid 5-6 figures for it - it just wasnt that urgent and she couldnt afford it.

I have played rough sports and been hospitalised from it and I was treated immediately (emergency) - again this was free.

I think this concept is lost on people - not everything medical needs to done immediately and its sometimes fine to wait (even if its not preferred).

[loceng]

Thanks for sharing.

There are blind spots regarding problems that you're unaware of since you haven't experienced them.

Glad your and your mother's situations were simple enough for a relatively quick resolution.

I wonder if your mother could have benefit more from a stem cell treatment, but that perhaps only a knee replacement was covered - even if the knee replacement would have cost the system more money overall.