Cancer

the facts; the truth; the real, genuine information

      In Britain there is a natural prejudice that the National Health Service should look after everything and will pay. Maybe it should, but there are problems, and the first is that total expenditure on the NHS is fixed while the possible ways of spending it are infinite. The best practice in Britain is the best in the world, and yet the management incentives are to slow things down and use well-known, conventional, low-cost treatments rather than venturing onto new ground. And private medical insurance is not a good alternative since an insurer who wants to stay in business will pay out only what cannot be avoided (and the bureaucratic burden on doctors is heavy). But ‘going private’ should at least give you prompt investigation and diagnosis. Get mad if it doesn’t.

      The only sensible advice is 1] be prepared financially; 2] if you are insured, read your policy carefully and insist on the cover you really want; 3] if you are not, then get some stout allies to help you fight the bureaucrats; 4] don’t waste time and money on quacks; 5] understand what might be done for your particular case, both plus and minus.

Note for insurers reading this:- a socially beneficial kind of insurance for cancer would give a large sum to the patient immediately upon conclusive diagnosis, free to spend as the patient wishes.