Hi all,
Just reading through your posts, and while it seems like the NHS are pretty useless, I thought I'd share with you a good encounter I had with them recently.
On holiday in Scotland a couple of weeks ago, at 2 in the morning I woke up with severe stomach pains (felt like I'd been kicked in the er... and I'm sure it wasn't my wife...). I was in so much pain I felt sick, hot & dizzy, and was shaking too. After my wifes generous offer of a glass of water didn't help to ease my pain, we decided to call NHS Direct.
I went through my problem with them, and they decided I needed to be seen to immediately. The only problem was that my wife doesn't drive, we were out in the middle of nowhere, the nearest neighbours were 15 miles away, and we hadn't a clue where the nearest hospital was. I explained this to them, and they were then more helpful than I ever expected them to be.
They called the hospital for me, explained my problem, and that I had no transport. The hospital called me within 2 minutes, to say that they'd sent a taxi out for me, and it would be with me within half an hour. The taxi arrived, took me to hospital, waited while I saw the doctor, who gave me medication absolutely free of charge, and then the taxi took me home again.
The taxi journey was probably an 80 mile round trip, through the Scottish highlands - and I didn't pay a penny. The NHS covered it all!
So, while they may seem to be completely rubbish, they're not all bad!!!
A happy ending 
Re: A happy ending 
