VOA标准英语2009年-Britain's National Health Service Serves 6

By Jennifer Glasse
London
24 September 2009

 
A sign seen, at the entrance to St Thomas' Hospital, part of the National Health Service, in London, 14 Aug 2009
As the United States debates health-care reform, VOA is looking at health-care services around the world.

The idea behind Britain's health-care system is straightforward¹, says Michael Summers of the non-profit Patients Association that helps people understand the National Health Service.

"Everyone is entitled to free health care at the time of need, both in relation to consulting their general practitioner², and to hospital treatment and operations. It is free," he said.

Summers explains every worker in the country pays for it through a national insurance tax. 

"It is relatively³ cheap for what you get, and it has been in existence for 60 years, so it is well established as a health service and it works," he said. "It is not perfect, but then there is no country that has a perfect system."

Everyone is covered

One of its strengths is everyone is covered, says Fiona Wise, who runs three London-area hospitals.

"We provide care for elderly people, for mothers to be, for newborn babies, for children, and we provide long-term care for certain groups of patients who have what we would describe as chronic⁴ illnesses," said Wise.

Summers says the service takes care of people, not just in hospitals, but in doctors offices and dentists throughout Britain.

"It is vast, absolutely vast," he said. "It is the biggest employer in the country. It is said to employ more people than the Red Army, if that is a comparison. It is vast, it costs an enormous amount of money, but of course it is funded from taxation⁵ and the contribution made by patients."

Drawbacks

The sheer size of the service is at the heart of many complaints, such as long waiting times, canceled operations and poor nursing care. 

Errors by doctors who are either too pressed for time or inadequately⁶ funded are also a growing problem. Studies indicate up to 15 percent of all patients in Britain are diagnosed incorrectly or have ailments⁷ that are overlooked.

Cancer specialist Dr. Karol Sikora says the quality of care is uneven⁸, because local authorities decide which medications or treatments are available.

"Each of them has a different philosophy about heart disease, about cancer, about mental illness," said Sikora. "And the services you get, for whatever it is you need, depends critically on where you live. We call this post-code prescribing."

Some patients have waged campaigns in the courts or the media in order to get access to treatment or medicine authorities have deemed too expensive, even if it prolongs life. 

Sikora says British authorities lag behind other European nations in making cancer drugs available.

"If they take three years to decide whether a drug for kidney cancer can be included or not, then that is three years of kidney cancer patients who cannot get the drug and that is what we have seen during the past several years," she said.

Advantages

But having a national health-care service does have its advantages in some areas. The British government's chief medical adviser⁹, Liam Donaldson, says it makes organizing vaccinations¹⁰ and planning a response to flu outbreaks easier.

"We can, if necessary, be very centralized," said Donaldson. "We can get stockpiles of anti-virals, we can distribute them to people, we can put a vaccine¹¹ program in place and get very high levels of coverage¹². When we have shortages in one part of the country - of beds or intensive-care beds - we can ensure that a network of services provides them in another part of the country."

But the critics and supporters agree one of the British national health service's biggest challenges, as it enters its seventh decade, are the mounting cost of new technology and medicines, and an aging population.  

1 straightforward   

adj.正直的，坦率的；易懂的，简单的

参考例句：

• A straightforward talk is better than a flowery speech.巧言不如直说。
• I must insist on your giving me a straightforward answer.我一定要你给我一个直截了当的回答。

2 practitioner   

n.实践者，从事者；(医生或律师等)开业者

参考例句：

• He is an unqualified practitioner of law.他是个无资格的律师。
• She was a medical practitioner before she entered politics.从政前她是个开业医生。

3 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

4 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

5 taxation   

n.征税，税收，税金

参考例句：

• He made a number of simplifications in the taxation system.他在税制上作了一些简化。
• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。

6 inadequately   

ad.不够地；不够好地

参考例句：

• As one kind of building materials, wood is inadequately sturdy. 作为一种建筑材料，木材不够结实。
• Oneself is supported inadequately by the money that he earns. 他挣的钱不够养活自己。

7 ailments   

疾病（尤指慢性病），不适( ailment的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His ailments include a mild heart attack and arthritis. 他患有轻度心脏病和关节炎。
• He hospitalizes patients for minor ailments. 他把只有小病的患者也送进医院。

8 uneven   

adj.不平坦的，不规则的，不均匀的

参考例句：

• The sidewalk is very uneven—be careful where you walk.这人行道凹凸不平—走路时请小心。
• The country was noted for its uneven distribution of land resources.这个国家以土地资源分布不均匀出名。

9 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

10 vaccinations   

n.种痘，接种( vaccination的名词复数 )；牛痘疤

参考例句：

• Vaccinations ensure one against diseases. 接种疫苗可以预防疾病。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I read some publicity about vaccinations while waiting my turn at the doctor's. 在医生那儿候诊时，我读了一些关于接种疫苗的宣传。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

12 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。