This Is Universal Health Care

There's a reason why I oppose universal health care, and it isn't because I'm a heartless bastard. It's because I know government health care will be vastly inferior to what we have now in many important ways.

For example, an inspection of one of Great Britain's NHS hospitals revealed some disturbing results:

That report, published yesterday, noted that: "In the accident and emergency department we … saw floors that were stained with blood and other fluid spillages and black dirt had accumulated in the corners of the bay areas. Six out of 12 privacy curtains we checked were soiled, some with blood spatter." Patient trolleys had side rails that were "marked and sticky". In A&E inspectors found "a trolley mattress with a hole in the cover; we asked the nurses to check the mattress and it was found to be badly soiled and to have a foul odour. In all, 12 mattresses were checked by trust staff and 11 were stained through to the foam."

The Patients Association said clinical safety problems were widespread within the NHS. Katherine Murphy, the charity's director, said: "The evidence was there but not acted on. That is completely unacceptable."

This is unheard of even in the worst hospitals in America. But the lack of incentive and poor management in the NHS has led to potentially deadly consequences, consequences I would like to avoid.

I'll take my hospitals clean and private, thanks.