From Private Luxury to Public Service
During the first 4 years of my nursing career, I worked at a tertiary private hospital 7,000 miles away. The job was cushy in every way except the pay. "Cushy" might seem odd to say, since the healthcare system was deeply flawed—the average working-class person would lose their life savings just from a hospital admission, not to mention surgery or emergency care. While we had our share of chaotic days, looking back now, I realise my work there as a nurse was essentially child's play.
Okay, maybe not that kind of child’s play…😅
Fast forward to 2015 and I found myself on a plane, flying half-way across the world, my literal comfort zone left behind. Very real challenges like developing adult anxiety, workplace stress, and burnout were just a myth to me. I only ever truly felt them when I started working in the UK’S National Health Service (NHS.)
I was amazed that there was such a thing as free healthcare. Even homeless people were getting treated without the hospital asking for any monetary deposit, which was a pre-requisite in my previous hospital after life-saving interventions were done. No other care would be provided unless a decision was made by the family to either put money into the patient’s hospital account, or have them transferred to a hospital that did not charge as much, but charged the patient all the same. When I say charge, that does not mean a one-off fee. It is actually a running tab charged to the room, which accumulates with every order of blood test, scan, medication, cannula, plaster, and cotton ball used during your admission. This is on top of the daily room rate you get charged, exactly like you were in a hotel, without the palm trees and tropical breeze.
If I asked you which healthcare service is better for the patient’s care, 99% of readers would say it’s the UK. Having worked here for the past 10 years though, makes me beg to differ. What you do not pay for in money, you pay for in time. Even if you offered money, that doesn’t change your prioritisation in an already struggling system. You would need to go to a private hospital for that, which is essentially no different to the way you would be charged in my previous workplace. The waiting lists for simple consultations on the NHS are insane. Even cancer patients, who are supposed to be on a “2-week-wait” from referral to treatment end up breaching those target dates. I could go on and on about the million other problems in the NHS, but let’s face it. None of what I write on here is going to be news to anyone in a position of political or societal influence.
Yes, it is frustrating to see the NHS being taken for granted not only by the population it serves, but especially by the people calling the shots. What is a lowly nurse to do? Lucky for me, I’ve progressed enough in my career to a management position. All I have to do now is invest my income so that I won’t have to rely on that income anymore, and I won’t be at the mercy of other people’s decisions. I’m excited to see where this journey takes me.
