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While we were in California recently, Hazel and I had a brief encounter with the American way of making big bucks out of other people's health problems. Though we also visited True North Health in Santa Rosa and saw that there is a far better way for those willing to take it.
We had already seen a lot of news in the UK about President Obama's health care proposals, and we saw lies about the British system, designed to frighten the American people. You will certainly hear plenty of complaints about the British Health Service, but they come mostly from people living unhealthy lifestyles and demanding a quick-fix magic wand.
So here's my own recent first-hand account of how it can work at its best over here. I should mention from the outset that I have never had any private medical insurance, apart from foreign travel, because I don't need it - I was born the year after the National Health Service began.
Some time back I got a pain in my right foot, and then sprained it as well, which was annoying as I've always done a lot of walking in the countryside. After some time it hadn't gone away, so I phoned our local surgery and was offered a choice of the six doctors who work together, I've very rarely needed them but I opted for one I saw way back who I liked.
A couple of days later I went along to the place above, less than ten years old. Inside is a touch-screen computer where I put in some ID and it invited me to take a seat while it informed the doctor that I had arrived (they have human receptionists if needed). Within minutes the doctor called me in, had a brief chat about my foot, followed by a much longer chat about my general health, diet, drinking, smoking etc. They are taking a much more holistic and preventative approach these days - having eventually realised that it's cheaper for the Health Service to try to prevent people from getting ill, rather than just attempting cures later. They have also learned that the various parts of the body can affect each other - I can remember years ago when doctors only seemed to look at the obvious symptoms in isolation.
The doctor decided that the problem probably was just in the foot. However he still wanted to do some blood tests, so a nurse took a couple of tubes. As we live in the country it had to go off for analysis, but the results were on-screen in 48 hours.
As expected, they were all clear, everything from B12 and cholesterol to diabetes, and no change from the same tests done about five years ago - the doc was a little embarrassed, saying they were better than his own and he is little more than half my age. So we got back to the foot and he suggested it would be useful for me to see a specialist foot consultant at one of the local hospitals.
A couple of days later I got a call from the people who arrange these appointments, asking me which hospital I would like to go to, and as we have one of the best orthopaedic hospitals in the country just four miles away I opted for that. The hospital has a lot of buildings spread over a large site - that's two of them on the right.
I had brief chat with Mr. Bing, the consultant, about the foot, followed by another longer chat about my general health. He eventually agreed that it was just the foot and when I walked up and down the consulting room in bare feet he said it looked like my right foot was turning over slightly. He then wanted an x-ray so I went along the corridor and within a few minutes they took all the pictures, uploaded them to the computer, and I was back with Mr. Bing as he explained everything in the x-rays in great detail, with lots of on-screen zooms and twists. This is another big change from years ago when patients were considered too ignorant to understand anything about their own bodies.
He showed me some possible areas that might be causing the problem, but decided he wanted a full 3D scan of the foot, using a CT scanner like the one on the left. Meanwhile I said I had looked at some shoe insoles at the pharmacist which I thought might help, but there were a lot of different versions, and rather expensive for experimenting. He actually laughed at that: "No problem, we'll have some made to 
measure for you", and gave me an appointment for the orthotics department along the corridor, where they make these things (the picture right is the commercial version).
So after all the blood tests, x-rays, 3D scan and several consultations, I'm getting some custom-made insoles for each of my right shoes. Hopefully they'll fix the problem but I'll be seeing Mr. Bing again for further checks. Equally importantly I got assurance that the rest of me is doing well for my age, and they now have lots more info in the database for future comparisons if I need them again as I get older.
And the total cost of all that? Nothing at all, and no form-filling, though of course I paid my share through the income-based National Insurance scheme when I was working full time.
We probably do get a better service in the countryside as inner city medics tend to be swamped with people living unhealthy lifestyles, regardless of the country or health care system. And abuse will always be an inherent problem for any system which is free at the point of service, hence the increasing number of computer-prompted lifestyle questions from the doctors so they can offer advice. As all VegSource readers know, good health will only come from looking after yourself, starting with what you eat.
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What a delight to read that your blood tests showed you to be in such excellent condition. I'm glad that your doctor got the chance to see that!
Hopefully he will take your fine example to heart. It's good that he was able to admit to feeling embarrassed about your's being better than his own even though he is half your age!
I once went to a fertility specialist. The quite overweight and unhealthy looking doctor also questionned me about my lifestyle habits. When there was nothing else to find, he blamed my fertility problem (blocked ovary) on my mostly vegetarian lifestyle.