UK's top doctors write letter to U.S. politicians to battle 'lies' about the NHS



Letter: Democratic senator John Kerry has called for evidence from the medical profession that Republican fears about the NHS were unfounded

More than 100 top doctors have signed an open letter to U.S. senators to counter 'lies' about the National Health Service.

The NHS has been the subject of vicious attacks by senior Republicans angry at President Obama's plans to reform healthcare in the country.

The furore has spilled over into the UK, where David Cameron has been embarrassed by Tory MEP Daniel Hannan appearing on American TV to describe the NHS as a '60-year-old mistake'.

Now, top British doctors have been moved to write an open letter to Democratic senator and former presidential candidate John Kerry, who has called for evidence from the medical profession that Republican fears were unfounded.

The doctors, including former president of the Royal College of Physicians Sir George Alberti and Professor Alan Maryon-Davis, president of the UK Faculty of Public Health, and patient groups, used their letter to point out that life expectancy is longer in the UK than the U.S. - showing, they claimed, it is a better system.

While everyone in the UK gets access to healthcare, free at the point of need, in the U.S. it is only available to those who have private insurance.

Some 45million people have no health insurance whatsoever, and 25million are not insured for all health conditions.

In their letter, they say it is important that they 'expose those lies which are about our National Health Service, a service which our experience shows to work successfully for the benefit of all in this country'.

Opponents of President Obama's healthcare reform plans say he wants to bring in 'socialised medicine' as seen in the UK.

They have claimed that Edward Kennedy, who died last month of a brain tumour, would have died much earlier had he had to rely on the NHS - as treatment would have been withdrawn due to his age.

Another opponent claimed renowned scientist Stephen Hawking, who has motor neurone disease, would already be dead as the NHS would have decided not to treat him.

Example: U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy was used as an example

But in the letter the doctors say: 'There is no cut-off age for healthcare in the NHS. Senator Kennedy, like anyone else of that age, or older, and with health problems such as his, would have been treated by the NHS with the same high levels of care as someone younger.



'Care for the elderly includes free flu vaccinations, free medication, free operations as needed, nursing care visits, and help and adaptions for the home. Many hospitals now offer "hospital to home" programs for palliative and end of life care to enable very ill people to remain at home.'

And it added: 'Professor Stephen Hawking of Cambridge University, recently awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama, is disabled and has always been under the care of the NHS.



'Professor Hawking is an outspoken admirer of NHS care. Like thousands of others who are disabled, he is entitled to free medical care and medicine, and he can get adaptions, equipment and home care to allow him to live at home.'

The letter says there is no truth in U.S. claims that NHS has 'death panels', which decide who should be saved and who should die, on the basis of cost.



They also dismissed claims that on the NHS, mothers are told to abort children if they have abnormalities. And they say the NHS's universal coverage was better than the U.S. system where people only get help if they have private insurance.

'In the U.S., people with pre-existing health problems are rarely covered by private insurance companies for those problems,' it said. 'Many do not change jobs for fear of losing cover for such conditions from their new insurers.



'The NHS is literally a life saver for those with pre-existing health problems - they are not denied care. It is vitally important that the NHS, and any government financed health plan anywhere, undertakes the care of such people.'

The letter concludes: 'The NHS is funded by taxes and provides universal coverage while costing 8 per cent of UK GDP. The U.S. system currently costs 16 per cent of GDP but leaves 45million without insurance and a further 25million under-insured.

'The NHS is available free of charge to all regardless of ability to pay, and does not discriminate against those with pre-existing conditions. Importantly it gives freedom from fear of the financial consequences of illness.

'Survey after survey shows that British patients express a high degree of satisfaction with the care they personally receive from the NHS. On average, British users of the NHS live longer and have a lower infant mortality rate than the U.S.'

The letter, which has been sent to U.S. senators and representatives and has also been published on the British Medical Journal website, was written by Dr Jacky Davis, a London radiologist.

'There's so much ignorance and malice around this issue in the US,' she said. 'The debate is skewed by vested interests - the healthcare companies who make millions of dollars of profits every year - with their campaign of misinformation.

'It is upsetting for those of us who have worked in the NHS for years that these lies are being spread.'

