British healthcare system – better safe than sorry?
Konstantinos Lianos
Before arriving in England my father warned me: “Son, you should know that people there tend to overreact sometimes.”
Lily Kemp’s feature about students allegedly getting anti-depressants without enough counselling could be an example of my father’s warning two years ago.
During my two year stay in England I have found that in every serious situation there is a ‘better safe than sorry’ philosophy that, for good or bad reasons, is always put into function.
This year I got pretty deep in the British healthcare system as I returned from Greece after undergoing major back surgery.
Overall UK treatment was satisfactory, but Kingston University’s Health Centre was the only one that offered me exactly what I needed, nothing more nothing less.
No, I did not have depression and I did not need any anti-depressants.
What I got into was a situation where I had to change bandages every single day or else I would be in grave danger of getting a serious infection in my surgery wound.
Nurses at another medical centre thought it was essential that I should take antibiotics. To be more precise, I was taking seven pills a day of extremely heavy antibiotics just in case an infection occured. Key words being: “Just in case.”
It is true that there was never any infection, but there were some excruciatingly painful nights, fatigue and less ability to concentrate added to the mix.
In my opinion, I was a victim of the ‘better safe than sorry’ philosophy just like the two former patients allegedly were.
Of course this incident cannot be presented as an argument saying that the British healthcare system is insufficient. It was just a case of staff being overprotective.
KU’s clinic was the first to offer proper help.
Ever since that day, I have been receiving excellent care from very capable and extremely helpful nurses and my wound is healing at an impressively fast pace.
It is a fact that every system has its flaws, everything carries imperfections, but that does not mean that there are not any positives in them as well.
Students who are facing psychological issues should not be given such heavy drugs, like Sentraline, without enough counselling.
This approach is frivolous, but I do know that nobody should blame the University’s clinic and staff for being irresponsible.
Every day I see the clinic’s reception full of KU students visiting and trusting the health centre.
Patients should know that doctors are still dedicated to relieving everyone’s pain and health issues.
Physicians should know that patients that are unsatisfied and should not be ignored.
Everyone is equal when it comes to illnesses and healthcare; therefore, every patient should receive the same level of attention.