Living away from the UK, in a country with a very good health system, I still find myself wishing for the NHS.
I had my smear test (annual in Germany) yesterday. This is free with my health insurance, but before the test I was offered a vaginal ultrasound (40 EUR) and a breast ultrasound (60 EUR). I declined both, but it smacked a little of upselling. Are these things really needed?
It is time for my Mirena coil to be changed. The Frauenarzt (Gynaecologist) can do this of course - but you have to pay for contraception in Germany. 450 EUR!
God bless the NHS, it has been such a wonderful system for me. I pay 16.8% of my salary for health insurance in Germany and have to say, I haven't noticed it being any better than the UK system yet. In fact, my GerMan was really impressed by my September visit to the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital for my regular checkup - everything free, high quality, no part-payments for treatments etc. God bless the NHS.