In the UK, we have long waiting lists for hospitals funded under the
National Health Service, although private treatment is available off
the shelf ... And, from Question ID 50956, I infer that similar
problems exist in the US.

Which countries with a National Health Service get 5 stars (and a tip)
and which get 1 Star accompanied with a request for money back?

Hello probonopublico and thank you for your question.

The World Health Organization has carried out a survey of countries
with 'National Health Services' to determine the best ones, and here
are the results:
 
"Overall health system attainment in all Member States, WHO index,
estimates for 1997"
http://www.who.int/whr2001/2001/archives/2000/en/pdf/Annex9-en.pdf

To save you time in sorting out the figures, I have arranged the
countries in terms of ranking:

1. France
2. Italy
3. San Marino
4. Andorra
5. Malta
6. Singapore
7. Spain
8. Oman
9. Austria
10. Japan
11. Norway
12. Portugal
13. Monaco
14. Greece
15. Iceland
16. Luxembourg
17. Netherlands
18. United Kingdom
19. Ireland
20. Switzerland
21. Belgium
22. Colombia
23. Sweden
24. Cyprus
25. Germany
26. Saudi Arabia
27. United Arab Emirates
28. Israel
29. Morocco
30. Canada
31. Finland
32. Australia
33. Chile
34. Denmark
35. Dominica
36. Costa Rica
37. United States of America
38. Slovenia
39. Cuba
40. Brunei Darussalam
41. New Zealand
42. Bahrain
43. Croatia
44. Qatar
45. Kuwait
46. Barbados
47. Thailand
48. Czech Republic
49. Malaysia
50. Poland
51. Dominican Republic
52. Tunisia
53. Jamaica
54. Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of
55. Albania
56. Seychelles
57. Paraguay
58. Republic of Korea
59. Senegal
60. Philippines
61. Mexico
62. Slovakia
63. Egypt
64. Kazakhstan
65. Uruguay
66. Hungary
67. Trinidad and Tobago
68. Saint Lucia
69. Belize
70. Turkey
71. Nicaragua
72. Belarus
73. Lithuania
74. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
75. Argentina
76. Sri Lanka
77. Estonia
78. Guatemala
79. Ukraine
80. Solomon Islands
81. Algeria
82. Palau
83. Jordan
84. Mauritius
85. Grenada
86. Antigua and Barbuda
87. Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
88. Bangladesh
89. The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
90. Bosnia and Herzegovina
91. Lebanon
92. Indonesia
93. Iran, Islamic Republic of
94. Bahamas
95. Panama
96. Fiji
97. Benin
98. Nauru
99. Romania
100. Saint Kitts and Nevis
101. Republic of Moldova
102. Bulgaria
103. Iraq
104. Armenia
105. Latvia
106. Yugoslavia
107. Cook Islands
108. Syrian Arab Republic
109. Azerbaijan
110. Suriname
111. Ecuador
112. India
113. Cape Verde
114. Georgia
115. El Salvador
116. Tonga
117. Uzbekistan
118. Comoros
119. Samoa
120. Yemen
121. Niue
122. Pakistan
123. Micronesia, Federated States of
124. Bhutan
125. Brazil
126. Bolivia
127. Vanuatu
128. Guyana
129. Peru
130. Russian Federation
131. Honduras
132. Burkina Faso
133. Sao Tome and Principe
134. Sudan
135. Ghana
136. Tuvalu
137. Côte d'Ivoire
138. Haiti
139. Gabon
140. Kenya
141. Marshall Islands
142. Kiribati
143. Burundi
144. China
145. Mongolia
146. Gambia
147. Maldives
148. Papua New Guinea
149. Uganda
150. Nepal
151. Kyrgyzstan
152. Togo
153. Turkmenistan
154. Tajikistan
155. Zimbabwe
156. United Republic of Tanzania
157. Djibouti
158. Eritrea
159. Madagascar
160. Viet Nam
161. Guinea
162. Mauritania
163. Mali
164. Cameroon
165. Lao People's Democratic Republic
166. Congo
167. Democratic People's Republic of Korea
168. Namibia
169. Botswana
170. Niger
171. Equatorial Guinea
172. Rwanda
173. Afghanistan
174. Cambodia
175. South Africa
176. Guinea-Bissau
177. Swaziland
178. Chad
179. Somalia
180. Ethiopia
181. Angola
182. Zambia
183. Lesotho
184. Mozambique
185. Malawi
186. Liberia
187. Nigeria
188. Democratic Republic of the Congo
189. Central African Republic
190. Myanmar
191. Sierra Leone

There are also some other interesting statistics included in the
report:
http://www.who.int/whr2001/2001/archives/2000/en/statistics.htm

-------------------------------------------------
Health care in Sierra Leone 

"Sierra Leone has been at civil war since 1991 and Life expectancy in
Sierra Leone is 37 years, the lowest in the world.
Sierra Leone has one of the highest infant mortality rates, 170 in
1000.
The risk of a woman dying as a result of childbirth in
Sierra Leone is 1 in 7, compared to less than 1 in
10,000 in the UK.
3% of the population in Sierra Leone have HIV/AIDS.
Charges are made for all medical care in Sierra Leone.
There is a severe shortage of basic medical drugs and equipment. 
Drugs available are often out of date and stored in appalling
conditions.
Limited anaesthetics are available in Sierra Leone.
In many areas there is a lack of transport (roads or vehicles) to a
hospital.
The lack of communication facilities between villages and their
district hospital means that invariably the hospital ambulance (1
ambulance per hospital) cannot be summoned when needed.
The government of Sierra Leone is unable to provide health care in
many areas and cannot fund the necessary rebuilding programmes – hence
Kambia Hospital Appeal has been asked to rebuild Kambia Hospital."
http://mysite.freeserve.com/kha2/pdf_files/informationsheet1.PDF

"Kambia Hospital Appeal" 
http://www.kambiahospital.org.uk/

-------------------------------------------------

Now we know the truth, let's see which countries brag about having the
best health care services in the world:

United Kingdom (Listed 18th by the WHO)
"That service has made the United Kingdom national health service the
very best in the world." Mr.Nicholas Winterton MP (Conservative)
http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm199697/cmhansrd/vo970318/debtext/70318-03.htm

Canada (Listed 30th by the WHO)
"maintaining a health care system that is considered the best in the
world"
Health Minister David Dingwall (1996)
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/english/media/releases/1996/96_23e.htm

Australia (Listed 32nd by the WHO)
"Australia's national health care system is considered one of the
fairest and best in the world." (ok. so the document says "one of" )
http://www.hic.gov.au/CA256976001D0618/Lookup/PDF_GENERAL_MEDICARE_2/$file/med_welcome_engl.pdf

United States of America (Listed 37th by the WHO)
"We are fortunate to live in a nation with the best health care system
in the world." Claude Earl Fox, M.D., M.P.H.
http://newsroom.hrsa.gov/speeches/mentalhealthsummit.htm

It's curious how our politicians tell us we have the best services in
the world!

-----------------------------------------------

Waiting times in the NHS

"Health Care Navigator NHS Patient Waiting Times Monitor"

"The total time taken for a typical patient to move from seeing a GP
to receiving inpatient treatment in England is just over 28 weeks
(197.8 days). The total waiting time fell by 4.3 days from the
previous quarter and 3.32 days on the same quarter of 1999 – it is now
at its lowest level since waiting times were first published.

Highlights

* Waiting times fell across all the regions. Trent remains the best
performing
region with an average wait 20.4 days less than the English average of
197.8. At the other extreme is the South East with an average waiting
time 18.7 days
greater than the national average.
* Waiting times fell across all major specialities. A 8.9 day fall
makes cardiology the best performing speciality but gynaecology still
has the lowest waiting time at 156.9 days.
* Trauma and orthopaedics maintains its position as the speciality
with the longest waiting times. This speciality, which including
operations such as hip
replacements, has an average waiting time of 250.4 days, 52.6 days
longer than
the average across all specialities."
http://www.combinedops.co.uk/healthcare/pdfs/fourth_report.pdf

So France gets the 5 stars with a very healthy tip (and is made a
researcher)

Thank you for your question, and if you have any questions regarding
my answer, do not hesitate to ask for a clarification.

Very best regards

THX1138
Search strategy included:
"world health organization" "health services" 
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&safe=off&as_qdr=all&q=%22world+health+organization%22+%22health+services+%22++&btnG=Google+Search

Fantastic!

Please make sure that you are suitably represented at the Masked Ball.

Many thanks ... It was great to hear from you again.

the united states does not have a real national health service, just
medicare for elderly, most people have to fend for themself and buy
over priced health insurance :(

The WHO collects information on not only healthcare systems, but also
Public Health - there is a difference.  Public Health is broader in
scope and responsibilities to the communicity as a whole.  Healthcare
delivery systems such as the variosu parts of the US healthcare
systems are gererally focused on acute and chronic episodes of ill
health, prevention, and health maintance.

The US Medicaid provides certain services for the poor, usually
uninsured or underinsured.  Persons 65 years+ are eligible for
Medicare regardless of income.  Medicare Part A is financed through
payroll deductions during the person's prior employment and Part B is
an optional insurance program.  Part A covers hospitalization,
hospice, and ESRD.  Part B covers ambulatory care.  Medicare Part A
has limited coverage for long term care needs.  Many purchase
supplementary "Medigap" insurance to cover other expenses not covered
by Medicare, for example prescription drugs.  Most working people
obtain insurance through employment.  This can be a range of good to
awful coverage and at prices that range from outragous to nothing. 
Health insurance must be offered by employers over a certain size.  Of
course this does nothing for the self-employed or employees of very
small firms.

It seems that where healthcare is ample and accessable, there may be
quality issues.  Where there is exceptional quality there may be
financing issues.  It's hard to have all the components in the right
place at the right time.  It's all relative and often depends on what
is important in each community.  From recent reports around the world,
it is difficult to find a system that has not had difficulties of some
sort: under-utilization, over-utilization, inadequate personnel, not
enough of or too much of, etc.,.