Health Service in Russia and in Great Britain

Health Service in Russia is controlled by the state. The public health service in Russia is free of charge as well as in many countries.

There is a wide network of medical institutions: hospitals, polyclinics, maternity homes, emergency aid stations and so on. In addition to those, there are many medical institutions which provide medical assistance for money.

30% of the population receive primary care through their work related clinics and hospitals. For certain employment groups such as policeand railroad workersspecial health services exist.

In 2006, the Russian government launched a national project plan that aims to improve four sectors of Russian life, including healthcare. It approved additional $3.2 billion for healthcare to cover salary increases for doctors and nurses, the purchase of new equipment for clinics and the construction of eight high-tech medical centres in Russia’s outlying regions.

Prophylaxis is one of the basic principles of the Russian public health system. Annual medical check-ups are carried out with the aim of detecting diseases at the earliest stages of their development.

There are a number of different types of hospitals and healthcare clinics in use. They include:

· Rural Health Posts offer basic health checks and facilities including routine examinations, immunizations and minor injuries. They cover a population of about 4,000 people.

· Health Centres cover larger rural population of approximately 7,000 people and offer a range of primary care services. They are able to perform minor surgeries and are normally staffed by a team of nurses together with a paediatrician, a therapist and a midwife/gynaecologist.

· Urban Polyclinics provide services which are normally considered general practice and include screening, treatment for chronic illnesses and on-going care. Depending on their size, urban polyclinics would also house approximately 3-4 specialists from fields such as cardio, oncology and obstetrics.

· Special Focus Polyclinics are where paediatricians and other specialists treat children up to the age of 19.

The British National Health Service came into existence in 1948 to provide free medical treatment of every kind. If a person is sick he goes first to see his general practitioner (GP), who treats minor illnesses. Family doctors work alone or in partnerships with surgeons and bigger urban medical centres, and when necessary go to see patients at their homes. Everyone is normally on the list of a general practitioner (or family doctor), who keeps full records of all treatments and over the years gets to know 2,000 or more people on his or her list.

General practitioners refer people to hospital, if necessary, for more specialized treatment, also free of charge both for outpatients and for those who have to stay in hospital.