Anecdote: I had whooping cough a few years ago, unbeknownst to me, during a national whooping cough epidemic, where the NHS had put out a bulletin telling doctors to look out for whooping cough.

During this time I had fits where I wouldn't be able to call an ambulance because of the shaking. I also could have potentially killed infants I came into contact with.

Both the NHS and private doctor ignored the possibility of me having the disease - my partner's mother, a registered nurse, even suggested I ask them to look for it - simply because they didn't think of it when they first arrived.

And of course both the private and NHS doctors arrived late, don't apologise, and insist I call them by their title rather than their name.

My general feeling of the medical industry in the UK is that it has more respect for formality than professionalism.