America's hospital to the stars or the NHS?

Of course, looming over all of this is the price tag. In America, the bill that landed on my doormat a month after I was discharged was £63,500 ($100,000). That did not include bills for the surgeon, the anaesthetist, the radiology department and the pathology laboratory, which added up to an extra £3,322 ($5,227).

Thankfully, my insurance covered most of it, but I still have to pay £4,766 ($7,500) of it myself — what in British insurance terms would be known as an excess.

No matter the underlying problems within the NHS, I will always support a system that is free for all than one that relies on you having the best kind of insurance to get treatment or essential go away.

I have to say despite all the other issues I encountered surrounding my hip problem, the care I received whilst in hospital was generally excellent. All the nurses I saw were hardworking and lovely, and made me feel at ease. When I was first admitted into the hospital I was really shell-shocked, and one of the nurses offered to close the curtains around my bed for some privacy whilst I got to grips with the situation. When I was admitted I didn't realise you could use mobile phones on wards (I was going with the old policy they had to be turned off) so, not having my parent's work numbers, I'd briefly called my Nan to ask her to explain calmly the situation to my parents for me (she is not a calm person given situations like that!) and to tell them not to worry. Naturally my mum went into a panic and rang the hospital, and a nurse came round and gave me a phone so I could talk to them and explain what was going on. Then I realised you could actually use your phone anyway when I saw other patients using theirs! Even the porter than took me to surgery was lovely - he made me laugh and I didn't worry about the operation, so much so that the anaesthetists joked I'd been given laughing gas. The anaesthetists and team were also lovely - she talked to me about how she'd done her medical training in Leicester and it was all quite fuss free, given how much I was panicking beforehand. The next thing I remember is being given pain meds by the nurse in the recovery room until I calmed down, who again was very empathetic and caring. Nurses also pretended not to notice that my parents stayed way beyond visiting hours every day (which were only 2 hours a day!) since they knew they'd driven 4 hours to see me. Being in hospital is generally quite a traumatic time, so having lovely nursing staff really does make the difference.

Theres a comment on the article in which i agree fully...

There are good and bad hospitals the world over and polite and rude staff too. The NHS is not free we pay through our Taxes and National Insurance that most people have taken off their pay at source. This country does not rely on self tax returns, private health insurance and charity to provide health care for all. American healthcare is a disgrace for the poorer people of their country. The NHS looks after everyone regardless of social status and there is much to be applauded by this and much the Americans could learn.

- Miss Ali,