a question about the NHS: can you go outside the plan and get a proper MD if your'e in a hurry and in the mood to burn a stack of cash? if so are MDs working outside the NHS better, on average, or worse, or do they also work for the NHS?
Actually, there is no such thing as an "MD" in Britain. Well, it's a very exalted academic award, sometimes honorary I think. The basic medical qualification is MBChB, not actually a doctorate. We just call them doctor because they like it. Then the ones who advance to become surgeons revert to "Mr." for historical reasons.
Every doctor in the NHS is "proper". The question of how and when to go outside the NHS is quite a complicated one though.
Virtually nobody uses a private GP. When you need to see a GP on the NHS you can. You don't have to wait for urgent matters, and really serious urgent matters will get you an NHS ambulance taking you right to the A&E department of the hospital. The only time I've encountered private GPs is in big London rail terminuses, where they cater to the communters with problems not serious enough for them to take time off work and see their own home GP (mostly it will be the rich city types living many miles away in the leafy countryside who use this service). And I gather there are a few private GPs in London who mainly serve rich expatriates such as Arab tycoons, who possibly don't qualify for the NHS and may be too snobbish to use it if they did.
I have no reason to believe the medical standards of the private GPs would be any different from their NHS colleagues, although I'd be a bit wary of a possible tendency to over-investigate and over-service if they are paid by procedures carried out.
However, many people requiring surgery do choose to go private, in order to avoid a wait for treatment on the NHS. This will either be funded by an insurance policy they have taken out against this eventuality (not that expensive, because the insurance company knows that most of their client's healthcare and all emergency treatment will still be taken care of by the NHS), or self-funded.
Someone doing that may well find themselves being operated on by their original NHS consultant, just at a private hospital and much sooner. If you're shopping for elective surgery, the main trick is to find out what your chosen surgeon's NHS position is. All the good ones have prestigious NHS appointments - they're allowed to have their own private practices as well. Avoid anyone without NHS connections, as they could well be substandard, is the advice.
The final category is non-essential surgery such as cosmetic surgery. That is all private of course, and there are clinics pretty much touting for business. Again, the word is to avoid these like the plague and go privately to the best NHS consultant in the appropriate field. It will probably cost you more, but you get what you pay for.
Rolfe.
