Hi. I live in the UK and have spent a bit of time in and out of hospital, receiving treatment on the NHS. During that time I've noticed some glaring incompetences in the way certain cases have been handled. However, despite that I have had quite a lot of treatment that I can only assume would have been unaffordable in America, although I'm not sure at all, hence this thread.
The reason Ive been prompted into writing this thread is that a few months ago I developed a rash on my arm which wouldn't disappear, so I went to see my GP who told me, in no uncertain terms, that it was definitely a fungal infection and game some cream. I applied the cream as directed and nothing happened, if anything the rash got worse. A month or two later I got another appointment at the same clinic but requested a different doctor, who told me that there was no chance that the rash was fungal and that I most probably had psoriasis. He gave me some corticosteroid cream and that seemed to do the trick. Recently I've developed a number of other symptoms such as pain in my knee and shoulder joint and quite a lot of pain and swelling in my fingers and toes, added to this a lot of muscle fatigue and some level of anxiety that may have been caused by my constant preoccupation with the symptoms. Anyway, I went to the doctor after doing my own research. I had come to the sensible conclusion based on my symptoms and medical history of my family that I was suffering from psoriatic arthritis. He failed to see the link until I pointed it out to him at the end of the appointment, to which he exclaimed, "I hadn't thought of that, that's a really good shout." So he sent me for some tests to rule out other possibilities, the tests supported the diagnosis and he diagnosed me with the condition. He tells me to take some anti inflammatorys. At which point I asked him if he could refer me to a rheumatologist so I could get some more aggressive systemic treatment, instead of treating the disease in an almost useless symptomatic manner. He refused and said that I should take the anti inflammatorys and hope the symptoms subside. The moral of the story, the doctors are incompetent, and its really hard to see a specialist.

I'd appreciate some info on how diagnostics and healthcare in general is approached in the US. Is it be easier to see a specialist? Would it cost an arm and a leg? Are doctors in general decent and able to make relatively simple diagnoses? Just curious as to how the system works. Medical insurance and all that.

Cheers