BRITISH SOCIALIZED HEALTHCARE IS SO BAD UK SOLDIERS WOULD RATHER GET SHOT IN HEAD ...

... which would land them in an American hospital - than receive a lesser wound, which would land them in a British hospital:

There is also resentment among serving troops unhappy about being treated in a NHS hospital that they believe is unsuitable for military patients. Soldiers on operations say they would rather receive a more serious injury and go to the top American military hospital in Ramstein, Germany, than end up in a NHS hospital.

They now half jokingly refer to getting "a Boche rather than a Blighty" in reference to the wounds that would send them home. Ramstein has an outstanding unit for brain surgery, and neurological intensive care beds in Britain are in short supply.

"The blokes see it that if you are unlucky you get wounded and go to the UK at the mercy of the NHS, but if you get a head wound you get sent to Ramstein in Germany where the US has an outstanding medical facility," said an officer serving in Afghanistan.

"It also does not do morale much good knowing that within 18 hours of being wounded you could wake up in a NHS hospital with a mental health patient on one side and an incontinent geriatric on the other."

When you take the profit motive away from healthcare, the quality of care goes down. If there is no profit motive, the healthcare administrators feel less sense of responsibility to the patients compfort and well-being. When there is a profit motive, Administrators are motivated to provide excellent service so that patients will return in the future.

UPDATE: Reliapundit comments:

I agree in general with the main thrust of this post (and have posted on the issue from other angles many times), but in this case the Ramstein hospitals are military and not run for profit either. That US military has a better healthcare system than the NHS IS an important indicator of just how bad the NHS is, and it is due to military morale which trumps the non-profit aspect. Also, the heathcare providers in the US miltary are trained within a private system and may one day decide to return to it - two things which ensure their excellence.

Pastorius says: Oh yeah?!? Well, even though the American hospital was a military hospital, that doesn't say much. Here's why. There are two basic components to good healtcare: technology; and people. In America, both of these components are raised in a strict capitalist system which provides the motive for excellence. In Britain, even if they did pump a lot of money into a military health system, it wouldn't help much, because the people and the technology would still not be raised within a system which would provide the motive for excellence.

Actually, that was a good point, Reliapundit. You almost made me look stupid here.