When we had private health insurance in the UK, they advised us to go NHS for pregnancy. We could have a private bed in a private hospital, but should any complications arise, we'd immediately be sent to the nearest NHS.
Sometimes a choice is illusory. In the UK parents have a choice of schools. Only, really they don't. The best schools get to choose which kids they'll have. Similarly with doctors here. It can be quite hard to get the best doctor because they've got huge waiting lists.
Having said that, in 2011, I got to see the top specialist in Switzerland for my particular problem. He was great. He'd spend 2009-2010 honing his skills in University College London - part of the NHS.
The NHS works differently from the Swiss system. For the wealthier and for standard conditions, then Switzerland is better. Otherwise it depends very much on the condition. I know one lady who always go to the UK; due to a couple of Swiss doctors' incompetence she nearly died.
You get bad doctors everywhere. Even if you seem to have choice, how you can you be sure you've chosen a good one? Some doctors here even prescribe homeopathic remedies!
Here, in Switzerland you pay, every month, for basic health insurance, which is mandatory. in effect, its a tax, because its compulsory.
In England you pay National Insurance, which is mandatory. Whether this personally costs you more than basic would out here will be down to your salary level in England.
If you want extra choice in Switzerland you pay for it optionally. the same in England. excesses here are high, 2500chf often. cost is about the same between Switzerland and the UK.
Of course because all healthcare is private here unlike the base NHS, it does mean people are after your money, so you will commonly be over tested for your ailment because the insurer and Doctor earns their profit by you being treated. ironically because most use a 2500 excess model this can dissuade people from going to the doctor when they should because they cant afford to. in England, no matter what your income level you can visit the Doctor and they will give you their medical opinion, they do not earn more or less whether you go for scans etc.
Personally I think a social healthcare system in Switzerland would be a step forward. The country is rich, so it would not be beset by the delays in getting operations ths NHS is unfortunately famous for and it would mean everyone no matter what income would visit the doctor when they feel they should and not when they feel they can afford it, however with the amount of money in insurance, it would never get through.
While you have obviously had a bad experience on the NHS yourself, it is a matter of personal experience. My wife's mother took 18 months to die of cancer and in that time we were in and out of London hospitals continually and the service, choices, diagnosis, explanations and care we received were absolutely first class by any measure.
Five years wow. How time flies, I hadn't realised you'd been back here over 5 years already. I somehow thought you'd only been back here for about a year before we came.
Having experienced both each has it's merits - In the UK I think location does depend on the treatment.
I have had excellent treatment on the NHS and occasionally the odd time when it could have been better.
My OH had to have surgery a couple of years ago - unfortunately he went downhill one weekend. He was rushed to London and because the heart unit had an infection he was taken to a private hospital and had a valve replacement and double bypass surgery by one of the best in the business.
The cost was zero.
In Switzerland the other month at my appt block an ambulance came rushing one morning . An elderly man came out of his appt on a stretcher chair covered in blood - he looked like he had fallen over. There was lots of chat and then another neighbour appeared with his car and he got over the stretcher and was helped into the neighbour's car.
I asked later why this was so and it was something to do with being charged if he had gone to the hospital by ambulance.
I remember visiting a swiss doctor for a bad cold and coming out with a bag of medication to put in every orifice - that seemed so wasteful.
So, which do I think is better - I really don't know - I have heard of bad and good experiences in both countries.
I'm suspecting that the Swiss on SFR50k would have far greater healthcare choice available affordably than the Brit.
£33k is actually well below median London/south-east income and I don't think you can even think of additional private cover or paying out-of-pocket cash for extra services.
This is awfully patronizing. How do you suggest i deal with three fractured ribs? What on earth is the point of going to see a doctor when the doctor just says, "it just needs time?" I had the hospital visit, the x-rays, I fail to see the point of spending 100chf in order to avoid walking to the damned pharmacy every other day.
Why would they have greater choice ? At 55k chf you can afford swiss basic health cover, this is the same across providers. I don't see where you would get any extra choice in ch with basic insurance only.
Apologies, but I get the feeling the NHS defenders on this thread are trying to mislead me re level of choice in Switzerland. I've never used the system, so just looking for information. And re 'basic' cover, there was earlier this comment from edot which seems to contradict that.
One bad thing about the NHS since its inception is that it abolished the family doctor.
You have to use your local practice, and you get a consultation (of a few minutes) with whoever is available. In my local practice that is often a foreign-trained locum. If I do want to wait for one of their GPs I've actually met before then I'll probably need considerably more than the typical one-week wait for a slot.
Actually one of the few other uses of my work insurance is that I can send my kids to decent family doctor, albeit have to pay £80 deductible.
This guy does an absolutely roaring trade ... he's coining it! I think he charges £300 for 20min session and the middle-classes of London just simply flock to him ... because they want a family doctor they know and trust .
I mean really, is that too much to ask?
Stafford Hospital scandal: deaths force NHS reforms
After reading your post, I googled pictures of Rettungswagen (ambulances)in Switzerland and noticed not one of them were marked as being part of a volunteer fire dept. (outside of the bigger towns) or a charitable organization; seemed like all of them said "Spital ABCDEFG or Kantonspital ABCDEFG".
A reminder to all to check with their own Insurance, so you are prepared just in case. Some DO include ambulance costs, some do not. Many basic Insurances do not. Our basic Insurance paid 50%.
I'd also advise anybody living out in the sticks, as we do - to become a REGA helicopter rescue donor/member. It is very cheap per year, from the top of my head 70CHF for a couple - and in case of an emergency would arrive in the field next to us very quickly - as well as rescue us from the mountain in case of a hiking/skiing accident, and even come and pick up abroad if they are not satisfied with the treatment and care available. Worth every centime!
As usual, from the sublime to the ridiculous. In the UK many people call ambulances for trivial things. One of my elderly neighbours would get an ambulance to take her to all her outpatients appointments - but was quite happy to pay for a taxi to take her to the hairdresser's or jumping on a bus to go shopping in town (btw the hospital circular bus which linked all 3 hospitals stopped more or less in front of the house). Sadly, part of the reason the NHS is in trouble, is because so many people really abused the system for so long.
Something that upset me a lot when hearing about it:
A 14 year old girl was admitted to the children's pyschiatric unit in the Insel hospital in Bern. She was terribly withdrawn and didn't open up to doctors but she did say whatever happened, she didn't want to go home.
The doctors suspected what the problem was but needed to hear it from the girl herself. After 2 weeks the sickness insurance involved were not obliged to pay for a longer stay and, in spite of intervention and appeals from the hospital and doctors responsible, she would have been sent home, had she not overdosed on the tablets she'd been given but not taken, and died there in hospital. Seems the grandfather had been sexually abusing her over a period of time.
I agree that all should check their own insurance.
But any basic insurance includes ambulance costs. The problem is that they pay very little: 50 % max. Fr. 500.-- for non emergency transportation and 50 % max. Fr. 5000.-- for emergency ambulance costs per year.
With supplemental insurance in addition to the basic my insurance pays up to Fr. 100'000 per year for necessary transportation.
The basic insurance ist just not good enough in that matter.