Its an intriguing concept, one nation in effect owning the health service of another, which is riddled with wide ranging issues beyond simply the profit motives of that ownership. the level of control that could then be exercised by one over the other would be immense.
However, consider this, and don't shoot the mailman here - what are the essentials of a good NHS. Facilities & Equipment, staff and medicines I reckon, in no particular order.
First off, where do the medicines come from? Almost all "big pharma" is either American or (for off patent clones) Indian or Chinese. the big ones: Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Merck, Gilead are American; Roche and Novartis are Swiss; Sanofi is French, Bayer is German. GSK and Astra Zeneca are based in the UK, but are predominantly multinational.
Next, what about the medical equipment - 9 of the top 15 suppliers are American - GE, ostensibly English, is a subsidiary of an American company. The biggest, Medtronic, arguably Irish, is essentially American. The other big ones are European.
Staff? Well, I don't know how true it is, but I've often heard it said that the NHS would fall apart if it were not for imported / foreign labour.
There is a persuasive argument that our healthcare is already out of our hands: sure, its owned by "us" as a sort of nationalised industry, but all we really control are the buildings! Oh yes, and we are responsible for all those ridiculous layers of middle management that everyone villifies
Discuss, he says, polemically
However, consider this, and don't shoot the mailman here - what are the essentials of a good NHS. Facilities & Equipment, staff and medicines I reckon, in no particular order.
First off, where do the medicines come from? Almost all "big pharma" is either American or (for off patent clones) Indian or Chinese. the big ones: Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Merck, Gilead are American; Roche and Novartis are Swiss; Sanofi is French, Bayer is German. GSK and Astra Zeneca are based in the UK, but are predominantly multinational.
Next, what about the medical equipment - 9 of the top 15 suppliers are American - GE, ostensibly English, is a subsidiary of an American company. The biggest, Medtronic, arguably Irish, is essentially American. The other big ones are European.
Staff? Well, I don't know how true it is, but I've often heard it said that the NHS would fall apart if it were not for imported / foreign labour.
There is a persuasive argument that our healthcare is already out of our hands: sure, its owned by "us" as a sort of nationalised industry, but all we really control are the buildings! Oh yes, and we are responsible for all those ridiculous layers of middle management that everyone villifies
Discuss, he says, polemically

. be it 500 5,000 or 50,000 the same problems will always be there.
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