Letter: US healthcare system versus the NHS

Letter: Councillor Barrow advocates an "American-style" system of health care where medical facilities are fully available on "the high street"; he unfortunately fails to understand the differences in our two systems of health care provision.

"American-style" provides the perfect solution to those with adequate health care insurance, or those with ample wealth; the rest, the vast majority, are subject to what is available.

In Great Britain, an NHS ambulance, taking you to an NHS hospital, and being treated by NHS professionals, provides emergency services, regardless of who you are.

In America the first thing they check is your health care insurance, then your credit card - then they summon the appropriate ambulance. In the UK they just want to save a life.

Further, at a time when the RSH trust faces cuts to services amounting to millions of pounds, Councillor Barrow extols the virtue of a "new hospital" to be built "somewhere" between Shrewsbury and Telford.

Perhaps he should direct more of his financial ability to finding a small sum of money to save all our local schools threatened with closure, thus protecting the rural communities that are so vitally important to Shropshire, and leave the NHS to the professionals.

Peter Sayles

Oswestry