Today we spent most of the day at BCU and had class with our professors. We did spent our break at the botanical gardens which were really pretty. While there I tried to befriend the peacock that was there, but he wasn’t so keen on being my friend. However I did manage to speak to one of the cockatoos that was at the botanical garden, I said hello and it replied and said hello back, however I had to use a British accent for it to respond. Besides the quick break to the botanical garden we spent the first half of the day with David W. learning about the healthcare system in the UK which is called the National Health Service (NHS) at least the public sector is. Most of our class time we spent learning and listening to some of our professors colleagues who themselves are professors but more importantly have  significant experience in different areas and aspects of the NHS, which provided us with great insight into the system. The guest speakers were Dee, who is an operating department practitioner , Sue, who was a general practice nurse, Rachel, who is a community nurse, Lisa, who is a  midwife , Samantha, who is specialist community public health nurse, and Nikki, who is a global nurse and a pediatric intensive care unit nurse. In the UK there is also private healthcare which is more similar to the healthcare system in the US. It was very interesting to learn about the differences and similarities between the two countries in regards to healthcare. Overall today I got a much greater and more in depth understanding of the complexity of the NHS and how it compares to the US healthcare system.

One similarity I noticed between the US and UK healthcare is that nurses in the UK play a significant role in community outreach and patient education which is the same in the US. I remember Sue, who was a general practice nurse, saying that one of the key roles of being a nurse in the UK is to know the community that they are serving and the needs of that community. Furthermore Rachel who is a community nurse does a lot of assessment and care of patients in a given community. Additionally Lisa who is a midwife said that midwives are active in a patient’s life from once they come in, to when they give birth, and even after they give birth,  and they are also tasked with informing the patient of how to best take care of themselves and their baby whether it be about prenatal and postnatal care. 

Another similarity I saw had to do with socio-economic status and access to healthcare. In the UK nearly anyone has access to the public healthcare system, however sometimes this system can be slow and not provide the immediate needs of a patient. In private healthcare in the UK  you can have access to almost any kind of clinical specialist or professional in a relatively speedy manner. However in the UK private healthcare is usually used by the highest socio-economic groups. This is also somewhat true in the United States, the highest socio-economic groups tend to be able to afford the best healthcare in the nation and get the greatest amount of accessibility compared to the rest of the nation.

One difference I saw was that in the UK there is a distinction between social care and healthcare. Social care is what someone receives when they need help bathing, or preparing and eating meals, or cleaning or help with taking their medications, basically social care is when one needs consistent daily help with basic daily needs and activities. This is similar to what home health nurses or occupational therapists in the US do. I can speak from personal experience in my family that these are both things that are considered to be under the umbrella of healthcare in the US. It is also important to note that these services would be provided for free in the UK but in the US home health care is typically paid out of pocket by individuals. Another difference in relation to this is that in order to receive social care you need to get a referral and have an assessment done to see what it is you need help with and how you can be helped. This is typically done by a multidisciplinary team of clinicians. In the US you do not need a referral to receive home health care, you can get home health when you decide that you need it and you can get the service as long as you can pay for it.