As others have pointed out, NHS is relatively cheap compared with most EU countries, and certainly a lot cheaper than North American hospitals. £300 or so for a day, including a bed, meals, having someone to check on you and answer your call when you ring the bell, medications, doctor/nurse monitoring... is a fairly good deal. If you rent a B&B bed and hire someone to be around for 24 hours as a carer, it would have cost you a lot more. When I was sick in Canada and have to see a GP, I had to pay upfront. Same in USA. The NHS doesn't actually make profits out of these situations, but they do charge the full costs, i.e. the other patients and taxpayers won't be subsidizing your grandmother. You can usually negotiate a payment package with NHS if you tell them you have difficulty paying back the whole sum. The bed charges are not the key items. The x-rays, any procedures (eg surgery) are the expensive ones.

Thanks Tom. I have just drafted a letter to make time of the essence, and state that if the sofa is not delivered in next 10 days, I would ask for compensation for (i) equivalent of renting a sofa for everyday since initial estimated delivery date, (ii) my time for making calls and writing complaint letters, (iii) any loss of quality of life for not having basic furniture. I also mentioned I would (i) post my experience in as many websites as poss, (ii) write to consumer magazines, (iii) email all staff forums at work. Any other thoughts? Will keep you and others posted on whether this works.

I have ordered a sofa from Harvey's and they keep delaying delivering. They claim they have not received it from supplier, but refused to name the supplier or contact them to see where we are at. I have been sitting on the floor for the past 3 months in my new house. Their purchase contract say they are not responsible for delivery dates. Is there anything I can do? Advice appreciated.

I have ordered a sofa from Harvey's and they keep delaying delivering. They claim they have not received it from supplier, but refused to name the supplier or contact them to see where we are at. I have been sitting on the floor for the past 3 months in my new house. Their purchase contract say they are not responsible for delivery dates. Is there anything I can do? Advice appreciated.