Health Care Reform: The Brits Fight Back

Well, just when we all thought the Brits were a bunch of wusses, turns out we were wrong. In the past two days, British citizens, doctors and politicians alike have mounted a vociferous campaign to defend the British National Health Service (NHS) from attacks by American conservatives.

As I noted in an earlier post, "NHS-baiting" has figured prominently in the anti-health care reform rhetoric in recent weeks. Certain Republican politicians and bloggers are portraying Britain's government-run health service -- with its alleged delays, death panels, and lack of funding for the elderly -- as the embodiment of all that is evil in socialized medicine. "Don't go down this path," reform opponents are essentially saying.

And in an unusual display of nationalistic pride, the Brits have begun fighting back.

On Wednesday a new hashtag -- #welovethenhs -- appeared on the social networking site Twitter. The truly devoted can now display a #welovethenhs "twibbon" on their profile image. The tag was so popular that Twitter crashed Wednesday.

But it's not just citizens who are feeling the NHS love. On Wednesday night I received three separate tweets from Prime Minister Gordon Brown, his wife, Sarah, and British Health Secretary Andy Burnham, all expressing their pride in the NHS and thanking the public for its profuse outpouring of support. "PM: NHS often makes the difference between pain and comfort, despair and hope, life and death. Thanks for always being there," wrote the prime minister.

Doctors have also jumped into the fray to defend the health service. In a letter to The Guardian, Hamish Meldrum of the British Medical Association wrote: "In the long term, the risk is that we are marching steadily away from a system of free, state-provided healthcare . . . towards the kind of wasteful, iniquitous system which denies millions of Americans the health care they need, yet costs nearly twice as much per head of population as the NHS."

Yesterday, opposition leader David Cameron -- yes, he's the Conservative party leader -- joined the chorus defending the NHS. Cameron sent out an e-mail stating, "One of the wonderful things about living in this country is that the moment you're injured or fall ill -- no matter who you are, where you are from, or how much money you've got -- you know that the NHS will look after you."

As with so many of us, Brown and Cameron's views on health care are shaped by personal experience. The prime minister's first child, Jennifer, died just 10 days after she was born, and the Browns have a son, Fraser, who suffers from cystic fibrosis. They have publicly thanked the NHS for helping them through these ordeals. Cameron and his wife lost their 6-year-old son, Ivan, to cerebral palsy and epilepsy earlier this year. The Camerons have been "hugely grateful" to the NHS for the care Ivan received.

As actor Stephen Fry wrote in his own tweet Wednesday night: "Know this, Republicans. Even the most right wing British politician wouldn't think of dismantling our health service. #welovethenhs"

That's not completely true. Last week, a Conservative member of the European parliament went on Fox News to denounce his country's government-run health system, telling Americans, "I wouldn't wish it on anybody." But his party leaders were quick to distance themselves from that remark.

As someone who's lived in the land of the stiff upper lip for three years now, I must say that this whole campaign has been refreshing. In a country where the most strident comment you're likely to hear in response to an insult is a well-heeled "Pardon?," it's nice to see the Brits engaging in a spirited defense of an institution -- and an idea -- they really believe in.

They sound -- dare I say it? -- positively American.

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