Yeah it's really weird, anyone who has used the health system in France, Switzerland, Belgium or many others would never praise the NHS. Don't get me wrong, it's a decent healthcare system that runs on very little money, but it's no way near the best

"Runs on very little money" is the key. The UK have comparable outcomes to other western european countries, with far less spending.

Health Spending per person

UK: $4070

Belgium: $4944

France: $4965

Switzerland: $7317

That decreased budget of course dates back decades. Increase NHS budget by 25%, and in 40 years compare France and UK systems.

Very little money? It uses 9,7% of UK's GDP. It's only a very little money if compared to US system.

In comparison, Polish healthcare expenditure is 6,5%. It's obviously worse than NHS, but it's miraculous that it works that well - with only 3 years expected lifespan below UK and 1 below US.

Source: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php...

My neighbours, who are from Germany, have praised the simplicity of the financial side of the NHS compared to the German system. I was quite surprised by this!

Probably in value for money it's the best. It's also an institution that has yet to be destroyed by capitalism, in that many people working in the NHS do so because it's a vocation and make large personal sacrifices to make it work.

that sounds terrible

It’s a noble thing to follow a vocation without being driven entirely by self interest.

In contrast, once market forces were unleashed in academia, good will built over decades was lost and a lot of great people quit. Very hard to get that good will and sense of vocation back.

Not everything in life has been to be run by markets driven by self interest. Some things do better without them.