Published on 12, July, 2020
There's a lot of arguing over the exact deal Britain will have after leaving the EU but could this be less cause for concern than another international relationship?
You wouldn't believe how reliant the NHS is on medical devices and pharmaceuticals from American companies. If Britain made efforts to sever certain economic and diplomatic ties to the US then American medical companies could, at very short notice, withdraw from the UK market. This means that many medical devices, spare parts for medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and technical support and services will become unobtainable to British customers including the NHS.
In other words, the NHS could collapse as a result but it (probably) won't collapse as a result of Britain leaving the EU.
It's not the EU that wants to sell off the NHS, it's the Tories and their cohorts. And it started with Thatcher.
Dear Gaulle initially opposed the UK joining the EU because he thought there were too many cultural and political ties to the US. To say nothing of the language. And he may well have been right. Tony Blair, remember?
Many of the Tories who dream of wild and free UK trading with whomsoever they want, are more than happy to see this achieved without any encumbrances whatsoever to free trade. Boring things like welfare, healthcare for all, or employer rights. Got to keep it all competitive. In the US if you cannot afford to pay into a health care scheme and you get appendicitis, well then....bad luck. You die, but after all you die as someone freeeee!
Perhaps you don't appreciate the medical devices used in a modern hospital and how the NHS simply will not be able to provide the services that it does without them.
A friend is a medical devices engineer who looks after medical devices in a hospital so he is an expert. He says that people (and politicians) talk about doctors, nurses, and patients but never about the medical devices and the importance of them in modern medical services.
Don't believe him? Then take the medical devices out of a hospital and see how well they perform procedures.
I once discussed this matter with a member of the Green Party who said that the reliance on medical devices and pharmaceuticals from American companies could now be the most difficult part of breaking the Special Relationship with the US.
The privatised American healthcare system leaves a lot to be desired but the fact is that the Americans are light years ahead of Britain and the EU at developing and manufacturing medical devices. The EU was established to counter American domination of the world but they have utterly fallen down when it comes to medical devices.
As I understand there are always interests at work to keep.NyJS budgets low. I do not really get the impressionsmedical technology in Europe lacks behind that of the States: Siemens, s German company, is a leader in surgical robotics.
Siemens is an exception case but many manufacturers are American such as GE, Welch Allyn, Baxter, and even the medical division of Philips.
The truth is, an NHS without (working) medical devices is like a torch without batteries.
Surely part of the problem is that they keep on inventing bigger and better and more expensive? The hospital buys the state of the art device which is out of date 6 months later.
don't get me wrong I am grateful for some of this equipment, and certainly for some modern drugs that I take which are very expensive in particular biologic DMARDs. But these come at huge cost and little cheaper things don't seem to get done.
I'm sorry I don't think what I am writing is relevant to this thread.