Yesterday I posted a short entry regarding Britain's Defense of the National Health Service on Twitter.  I promised  to post anything interesting I found...a daunting task given how fast the scene changes.  I don't think I'll become a tweetertwit.  I'll leave that for Senator Crabgrassley.  But being a man of my word, mainly, here's a digest of things from ten minutes of Tweeter on We Love the NHS

• bursaar RT: @JanisSharp: #welovethenhs Because when I see a doctor the first question is "What's wrong?" Not "Do you have insurance?"   half a minute ago from TwitterFox

• hohenja An American's Experience of Britain's Healthcare System http://snipurl.com/pt0lb  (via @PotentialandExp) #welovethenhs (via @Glinner) 2 minutes ago from Tweet

The link is very interesting, and about as objective as anything I've seen.  The comparison of experiences is superb.  Here's an observation on delays with which I can relate:

    There are delays -- there are delays -- but to be honest I have experienced delays just as bad here in the US.  In the UK, I might have to wait weeks or months to see a specialist if my case was not urgent, and that was frustrating.  Here in the US, when I was in excruciating pain last year (so bad that I lost control of my bodily functions when the pain hit), I was referred to a breast surgeon by the ER doctor (7 hour wait in ER) -- but the trouble is that we had to call five medical centers before we could find a surgeon who could see me any sooner six weeks, and even then it was only because they had a surprise cancellation.  And the last time I needed to take E2 to the allergist here in the US, the earliest they could fit me in was two months later.  There are delays in both systems.  And by contrast, you can get very speedy service in the US... and you can get it in the UK too.  When I needed to see my GP in the UK, I rarely had to wait until even the next day.  When I thought I'd found a lump in my breast, I saw the doctor the next day and was sent to a specialist within the week.

(note--I don't twitter and the annotations and abbreviations are outside my normal range of experience.  I might misattribute something.)

• lydiareyes7 Amazed at some of the rubbish being talked about the NHS, but not surprised at the US reaction to a little social justice #WeLoveTheNHS

• sanabituranima RT @mtg101 When I was two years old I had double-breasted pneumonia and would have died if it weren't for the NHS. #WeLoveTheNHS   3 minutes ago from web

• heidavey #welovetheNHS @NoToNHS18 you are an idiot. Of you get preventative medicine through the NHS   3 minutes ago from TwitterGadget

    (The NoToNHS's, regardless of the number following, are bot posts from one person.  He seems to be one of a very few attacking the NHS--if not the only one)

• SanjayJussun Life saving treatment for a serious lung disease on the NHS for the first two years of my life is enough for me to see why #welovetheNHS   5 minutes ago from web

• ClicksBlueJeans The NHS isn't a left, right, democrat, republican, labour or tory issue - It's a HUMANE issue! 20% of US with NO cover! #welovethenhs   6 minutes ago from web

• gooddayppl RT @alexstevenson2: Daniel Hannan should be expelled from not only his party but his country he has betrayed #welovetheNHS   6 minutes ago from web

Daniel Hannan is a Conservative (Tory) MP who advocated dumping the NHS.  He remarks were condemned by the Tory Leader, David Cameron.   A tweet a little earlier (microseconds, I suppose) linked to the BBC story:

    But Mr Cameron, who has sought to portray the Conservatives as the party of the NHS, and has said health spending will be protected from cuts under a Tory government, said the health service was a "great national institution".

    "The Conservative Party stands four square behind the NHS," he told BBC News in his Oxfordshire constituency.

    "We are the party of the NHS, we back it, we are going to expand it, we have ring-fenced it and said that it will get more money under a Conservative government, and it is our number one mission to improve it."

Wouldn't be fun to have a Conservative Party which advocated more support for health care, not less?  There's Conservatism I could almost believe in.

• cynan_sez US health system ranked worse than Colombia, Morocco, Chile & Costa Rica. #welovetheNHS At least its #1 most expensive! http://is.gd/2gLro   6 minutes ago from TwitterFox

He's quoting the World Health Organization as presented at Geographic.Org.

• tonytrainor In the UK, even penguins get free healthcare: http://tinyurl.com/nfe4cv #welovetheNHS   6 minutes ago from web  Funny BEEB story behind the tinyurl.

• alexgrey RT @peterwhitehead Listen up America - the NHS is so good at keeping us Brits alive lots of us have to go to Switz to die... #welovethenhs   8 minutes ago from TweetDeck 
  

My choice for the best one liner in eight minutes.

• Eavesdm dad got the best posible care at Ospadail nan Eilean and we've not had to sell the house to pay for it #welovetheNHS Hope he can have more   9 minutes ago from TweetDeck

• problem_chimp father in law completely incurably paralysed, given all manner of drugs and robotics to improve quality of life, not famous. #welovetheNHS 9 minutes ago from TweetDeck

• jamesfoxdavies British Ambassador to Washington Times on NHS http://bit.ly/qKkpO #welovethenhs   9 minutes ago from web 
  

Davies draws attention to a Letter to the Editor of the Washington Times.  To save you the trouble of clicking through to it and rewarding the Times' advertisors.  Here it is:

    Your editorial ("The Brits' bad example," Opinion, Aug. 7) and other commentary ("Going British is bad for your health," Letters, Tuesday) paint a distorted and caricatured picture of Britain's health system.
    
    It is not for a Brit to say what kind of health care system the United States should have. That's a matter rightly being debated by Americans across the country. And as they debate, your readers might like to know why the National Health Service remains so popular in Britain.

    The NHS provides a high and rising standard of health care to all Britons, on an equal basis, at less than half the per-capita cost of the U.S. system. Surveys have shown that the NHS is thought of as good or excellent by the vast majority of those who use it. Two years ago, a U.S. research group, the Commonwealth Fund, ranked British health care the best of six large countries studied, based on patient and physician surveys.
   
    Medical treatment provided by our NHS is delivered on the basis of clinical need, not age. There is no ban on anyone of any age receiving any treatment. And it is untrue that bureaucrats make decisions on medical issues.
   
    The question of whether to prescribe certain drugs or recommend surgery in each case is rightly a decision for doctors and medical professionals, decided on a case-by-case basis in discussion with the patient and his or her family, looking at all the available evidence.
   
    British health outcomes are not to be sneezed at, either. Average life expectancy in Britain is 79.2 years (78 years for the U.S.), according to the World Health Organization.
   
    DOMINICK CHILCOTT
   
    Deputy head of mission
   
    British Embassy to the United States

• redteddy23 Two years ago I suffered serious burns and received amazing treatment from the local NHS. State healthcare just works. #welovetheNHS   9 minutes ago from TwitterFox

• bibbleco RT @cpev: Ok, gloves off Fox News is an enemy of the people http://snurl.com/pvp2j <-- Seriously F*CK Fox news, lies lies lies #welovetheNHS   10 minutes ago from web

• ClicksBlueJeans The cost of US vs UK healthcare: http://is.gd/2gO0A #welovethenhs   10 minutes ago from web 
  

The URL takes one to a diggit link, and a statistical comparison much in favor of the British System.  The link made my firefox a little unhappy, but no harm done.

So there's ten minutes of accumulated Tweets--it only took me two hours to record them.  I think it will take another half hour to format this, if I'm lucky.  This will teach me to make a promise to TPM Gary.  But seriously, folks, there are interesting links to good information about health care in the UK, and it is refreshing to see how they whack Fox News.  If you visit to watch the tweets and see anything interesting, add it to the comments thread.