I live in London and have for many years now. When I was feeling unusually sluggish for weeks, I went to see my GP, who suggested a blood test. He had the result the next day and rang me immediately, offering me a choice of two local hospitals, and he then arranged for me to see a specialist at my chosen hospital within the hour. The hospital quickly confirmed a diagnosis of Leukemia and I was admitted for treatment of blood transfusions. I was then referred to another London hospital who are the UK Center of Excellence for the treatment of the rare form of Leukemia I have. They offered me a drug trial and I have never looked back, achieving remission in six months. My specialist was available to me for weekly visits as well as phone calls and email whenever I had any questions or concerns. She normally replied to my emails within about two hours. And all of this cost me not one penny - not the consultations, drugs, tests, transfusions or treatments. When I read the horror stories in the US press about "socialized medicine," I would like everyone in the US to know what it is really like to be backed up by the UK system, which is caring, responsive and up-to-date, and all free at the point of delivery.