Health Service in Great Britain and the USA

Great Britain

The National Health Service Act was passed through the Parliament in 1946 and introduced into practice in 1948.

Most medical treatment in Great Britain is free but charges are made for drugs, spectacles, and dental care. Free emergency medical treatment is given to any visitor from abroad who becomes ill while staying in the country. But those who come to the UK especially for treatment must pay for it.

NHS provides free medical treatment both in hospitals and outside. It consists of three main parts: the general practitioner (including dental) services; the hospital and specialist service; local health authorities services.

People are free to choose any medical service or any doctor. In big towns there are some private hospitals. Many well-off people prefer to be private patients. In fact, 97% of the population uses NHS. The practitioner services consist of the Family Doctor Service, the Dental Service, and the Pharmaceutical Service. All these services provide the patient with individual medical care that he needs.

Besides numerous hospitals there are more than 150 health centers in the UK. They contain all the special diagnostic and therapeutic services which doctors need, such as electrocardiography, X-ray, physiotherapy, good administrative and medical records system. The resources of health centers are at the disposal both of hospital and family doctors. Health centers are the basis of primary care.

There are centers which provide consultant services in general medicine and surgery, ear-nose-throat diseases, obstetrics and gynecology, ophthalmology, psychiatry and orthopedics. All consultations in the center are by appointment only. The patient is given a definite time to attend. Each doctor decides for himself how many patients he can examine for an hour. The patient is the most important person in the health center and all the efforts of doctors are directed to help him as much as possible.

The USA

The Health Care System in the USA is organized in three levels: family doctor, the medical institution or hospital and the US Public Health Service.

A family or private doctor gives his patients regular examinations and inoculations. In case when professional service and care is needed the family doctor arranges for the specialist or a hospital for his patients. The family doctor receives pay directly from the patient. Most physicians have private practice.

But many Americans have no family doctor and they come directly to the hospitals for their medical needs. There are government-financed and private hospitals. The patients are admitted to hospitals or clinics staffed by consulting physicians, residents, interns and highly skilled nurses.

Most hospitals have at least the following major medical departments or units: surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics and general medicine. Emergency units are very special in the hospitals. Emergency patients acquire immediate attention.

The cost of medical care in the USA is very high. Most of the population (75%) have their health insurance, life insurance, disability protection and retirement benefits at their place of employment.

The great cost of medical care in the country and a great number of people who couldn’t pay for it had forced the federal government to develop two programs – Medicaid and Medicare. Medicaid is a federal-state program providing free medical care for the poor, the blind, disabled and dependent children. Medicare is a federal program providing partially free medical care for the elderly people over 65 at the expense of health insurance and the government.

Exercise 7. Answer the questions:

1. What medical services operate in Great Britain?

2. How can people choose the medical service and a doctor in Great Britain?

3. What do the practitioner services consist of?

4. What is the role of health centers in the health service system in Great Britain?

5. What services do health services provide?

6. How can the patients receive a consultation of a specialist in Great Britain?

7. How is the American Health Care System organized?

8. How does a family doctor work?

9. How is the work of family doctors paid?

10. What kinds of hospitals are there in the USA?

11. What major medical departments do most American hospitals have?

Exercise 8. Match the words with their definitions:

Exercise 9. Read the following statements. Agree or contradict them. Compare your opinion with the information from the text:

1. Most of the hospitals in Great Britain are private.

2. Health service in Britain is free for everybody, even foreigners.

3. Foreigners can’t receive any free medical service.

4. Family doctors cannot use the resources of health centers.

5. The doctor is the most important person in the health center.

6. The American and Britain health care systems are similar.

7. The price of medical care in the USA is very expensive.

8. Local health authority service provides not only therapy but prophylaxis as well.

Exercise 10. Substitute the words and phrases in bold type by close in their meanings from the text:

1. The National Health Service Act was put into practice in 1948.

2. People pay for medicines, glasses, and stomatological service in Great Britain.

3. Foreigners are given free urgent care if necessary.

4. Some rich people prefer the private health services.

5. Health centers give possibility for hospital doctors and general practitioners to use their facilities.

6. Urgent patients get care without delay.

7. A family gives his patients regular inspection and vaccination.

8. The hospitals are stuffed by very experienced nurses.

Exercise 11. Translate into English:

Державна служба охорони здоров’я, безкоштовне лікування, служба лікарів загальної практики, практикуючий лікар, стоматологічна допомога, забезпечені люди, основа первинної медичної допомоги, захворювання вухо-горло-ніс, консультація спеціаліста тільки за попереднім записом, система охорони здоров’я в США, приватні медичні заклади, отримувати платню безпосередньо від пацієнта, фінансовані урядом лікарні, сімейні лікарі, консультуючі лікарі, ординатори та інтерни, відділення інтенсивної терапії, медичне страхування та страхування життя, незрячі та інваліди

Exercise 12. Compare the American and British health care systems:

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