HEALTH

All UK citizens are entitled to free medical treatment under the National Health Service (NHS). Adults who are working pay towards the NHS through their taxes, deducted automatically from their salaries. This helps to fund the rest of the population.
All types of medical treatment are free – though working adults have to pay a prescription charge towards the cost of any medicines prescribed. Children, pensioners and certain special categories receive free medicines. Recently the Welsh Regional Assembly scrapped prescription charges altogether.
Everyone is entitled to register with a GP (general practitioner) – usually with a surgery near where you live. Treatment for minor illnesses is provided by these doctors. If a GP believes the illness needs further investigation, he will refer you to a hospital consultant.
Emergency treatment is carried out in a hospital’s accident and emergency department (A&E). This is sometimes also referred to as a casualty department. Critically ill patients are treated in an intensive care unit. Ill babies are treated in special care baby units.
The NHS also has a telephone advice hotline and website – NHS Direct.
We DO NOT say someone was hospitalised – we say he was admitted to hospital, or is in hospital or in intensive care etc. Eg A man is in intensive care after a three-car collision. If someone is treated in hospital, we can say he was taken to hospital for treatment (by ambulance), or that he was treated in hospital or that he received hospital treatment.
While people needing lifesaving treatment or surgery are dealt with straight away, people often have to wait to see a consultant or for surgery for less serious problems. There are often stories generated about hospital waiting lists. The Labour Government made it a priority to cut waiting lists, but opponents accuse them of not doing enough.
The NHS subsidises dental treatment but does not pay the full cost. There are often stories about the shortage of NHS dentists, which means people are forced to go to a private dentist and pay the full amount.
Despite having access to the NHS, many people also join private health schemes, which allow them to receive treatment for less seriously ailments quickly. There are a number of private medical insurance providers – one of the biggest is BUPA, which has its own clinics and hospitals.
Dialling 999999 is the UK’s national emergency number. It can be dialled to reach the police, ambulance or fire service, or the coastguard. All these are national services, paid for through taxation, and administered in by local authorities. They are collectively known as the emergency services.
The Government has set targets for response times for all these services – for example, ambulances are targeted to reach 75 per cent of life-threatening calls within eight minutes. There are sometimes stories about services failing to meet their targets.
If a story says someone dialled 999, it means he telephoned the emergency services. The call is taken by an operator, who asks the caller which service is required. Often more than one will be needed (for a road accident for instance).
999 is a useful short-form for ambulance in headlines – eg. 999 crews (instead of ambulance crews).