[avianlyric]

Just because the NHS doesn’t fail in all scenarios, or even most scenarios, doesn’t mean it doesn’t have serious problems.

GP isn’t making any claims that the US system is better, they don’t even mention the US, they’re pointing out that the NHS has some pretty serious deep seated issues. Which quite frankly should be obvious to anyone who’s interacted with it.

Knee jerk responses like this are precisely why attempting to fix the NHS is political suicide. It impossible to even have a open discussion out the problems the NHS faces without people piling on to defend the NHS and drown out criticism.

Personally I worry about the future of the NHS. The inability to have an honest and open discussion about the future of the NHS means it’s just going to continue lumbering on until it collapses completely from extraordinary pressures it’s placed under.

[austinjp]

> The inability to have an honest and open discussion about the future of the NHS means it’s just going to continue lumbering on until it collapses

Agreed. Unfortunately, it often seems that "honest and open discussion" rapidly segues into rancour. The NHS is a behemoth, and healthcare can be astonishingly complex.

The NHS was designed for different times and different needs. It's been hacked about and is struggling to hang together. It's a political football, and it's been under-funded for years, probably decades. Cash isn't the only way to fix things, but it's a big part.