Agreed, but I have to say that the system itself could be vastly
improved. It is too big to exist as a single entity and wastes vast
amounts of money. There is little regard for patient dignity (mixed
male and female wards still exist and waiting times for both in and
outpatient appointments are often much longer than they should be).
NICE makes certain that some treatments never get through to the
health service (I signed a petition only the other day to ask the
government to ensure that anti tnf drugs are made available to those
who suffer from ankylosing spondylitis).

From the NRAS website:
"Although rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is the most common form of
inflammatory arthritis, Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) affects 1 in 200
men and 1 in 500 women. Gillian Eames has severe AS and her local
Primary Care Trust (PCT) is refusing to pay for anti-TNF treatment
after a successful 5 year trial

NICE does not recommend use of abatacept (Orencia) for people with
severe rheumatoid arthritis"

We still have many hospitals described as dirty, and large numbers of
patients becoming infected with MRSA and other bacterial and viral
diseases. To some extent this results from too many patients being
packed into the wards and an inadequate number of private rooms.

I suppose one could keep digging, but I won't. Obviously, there have
been improvements (because the inadequacies became politically
significant), but there are still numerous shortcomings which are
being exposed.

When (if) patients have control of the money, things will change
because they will channel the cash towards the best institutions,
staff and treatments

Peter