Упражнения по теме Healthcare System in the UK and the USA / Система здравоохранения в Британии и США

1. Read the text and do some exercises.

UK Health Service

The National Health Service provides free treatment for people living in Britain and gives emergency treatment for visitors. The greater part of the cost is met from taxes taken from people’s wages. People also pay some money every month as a sort of insurance.

The National Health Service consists of three main parts: the general practitioners, the hospital and specialist services, and local health authority services. Local health authorities are responsible for medical education, hospital building, environmental health, vaccination service and so on.

The centre of National Health Service is the general practitioner (GP). Each person is registered with a certain doctor in his or her area. The GP diagnoses, gives medical certificates, prescribes medicines. Dentists and opticians usually have separate clinics. They are not parts of health centres.

There is also a medium-level hospital staff. District nurses give injections, physiotherapy exercises at people’s homes. Ward nurses take care of the ill in the hospital.

Regular medical inspections are held at schools. Children receive various vaccinations and are examined by different specialists. There also exists a school dental service in every school.

Much attention is paid to the educational programmes. The Department of Health provides anti-smoking education programmes, alcohol education programmes, cancer prevention programmes and so on. Much attention is paid to the AIDS and drug programmes.

Great Britain pays much attention to the qualification of doctors. They are trained at 16 universities. Besides, they get practice during their work at teaching hospitals.

a) Based on what you’ve read and the Wikipedia article (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Health_Service), draw up a diagram describing the UK healthcare system.

TAXES

NHS

…

…

…

……..

b) Read the interview of Lenta.ru with former NHS director Chris Bourne (https://lenta.ru/articles/2020/02/12/nhs/). Fill in the following table (in English!):

2. As you learned from the text above, the general practitioner plays a major role in getting primary health care in the UK (as well as some Commonwealth countries and the US). For Russia, this is a novelty, we are used to resorting to the services of a therapist, and it often seems to us that these two doctors are doing the same thing. Read two Wikipedia articles (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_practitioner; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internal_medicine) and make a table or diagram showing the main similarities and differences between them.

3. Study “Health System” vocabulary and do some exercises below.

a) Match English phrases in this dialog with their Russian translation:

b) Put the phrases in the correct order to make a dialogue:

с) Using these dialogues as examples and the phrases in the glossary, make your own short dialogues about a doctor’s appointment.

4. Read the dialogue below. There is a question there that would never have been asked in a British or Russian clinic. Guess which country is mentioned in the dialog. Why did you decide so?

A: Hello! I would like to make an appointment with a doctor, please.

B: Hello! Do you need urgent care? What seems to be the problem?

A: Yes, I do. I have a terrible pain in my left arm and my wrist is swollen.

B: Do you have private medical insurance?

A: Yes, I do.

B: Ok, I can fit you in today at 3 p. m. Does that suit you?

A: That’s great, thank you.

B: Ok, I will write you in for today at 3 p. m.

A: Thank you for your help!

5. Read the text and the Wikipedia article (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_care_in_the_United_States) and do some exercises below.

Healthcare in the USA

Each American wants to have a good health. Everybody knows that Americans are a very healthy nation. They do not only do many sport activities, but also consult a physician in time.

No matter if they have a splitting headache, a sore throat, backache or pain in the stomach, they always call a doctor in order to avoid serious consequences. The doctor usually prescribes medicine and puts on medication.

The USA has a health care system of high quality. You should be aware that the majority of medical institutions belong to businesses and different organizations in the private sector, and the American nation owns only a fifth of American hospitals.

Medical insurance in the USA comes from different sources such as social insurance, private insurance and social welfare that is funded by the government. Some state organizations offer free health insurance and some health care centers charge fees for treatment. The costs can be high, if medical centers are equipped with modern equipment and give high-quality medical services to all people.

Americans need to get high-quality health care services, and the USA do provides a strong health system.

a) Here are some facts and some people’s opinion about medical care service in the USA. Which of the following statements are facts and which are opinions?

• I think that in many ways it’s a wonderful system but in many other ways it’s a catastrophe.

• The USA is one of the most developed countries in the world but it doesn’t provide healthcare for all.

• Medical care is not free but many hospitals provide some free or low-cost care for those who can’t pay.

• The USA has no public healthcare service so most people have private health insurance.

• America with its private insurance-based system spends 14 % of GDP on health. Britain with its popular state-funded NHS spends only 7 %.

• There are people who receive medical care through social programmes. They are Medicare, which is intended for people over 65 and the disabled, and Medicaid, which is available for the poor.

• They say that when the world’s rich want the best treatment money can buy they usually go to the USA. Small wonder, most new medical techniques and technologies become available in America before anywhere else.

• Self-employed private physicians receive a fee for each patient’s visit but some medical doctors are on a salary.

b) Discuss in pairs or groups.

Exchange your opinions on the matter

6. Read the snippets that describe a piece of the reality of the US health care system. Match them with posters of famous TV series about doctors.

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