The healthcare provision in Britain has a fairly unique system that the citizens of Britain are demanded to undergo to earn medical treatment. This system involves the registration with a general practitioner, who co-operates with the National Health Service. A citizen can acquire medical treatment only through his or her general practitioner, unless his or her condition is rather severe. This is because the general practitioner has the medical record of the patient that includes all the important details of his or her health situation, and is due to the fact that "the illnesses which individuals present can be seen in the context of their lives and their health behaviour." (Allsop, 1995) In contrast, the healthcare provision system of Kuwait is extremely different from the system of Britain, for it seems to be more flexible from the perspective of the citizens. Unlike the healthcare system of Britain, the healthcare system of Kuwait does not require its citizens to register with a general practitioner, but instead, it gives them the choice to go to any doctor or dentist in the nearest clinic. The government of Kuwait established many clinics and hospitals that are distributed equally throughout the country. With this process, from any given point, it is possible to find a clinic within about two kilometres, and a hospital within about four kilometres. (Al-Sadani, 1998) Due to the establishment of a computer network that connects every public facility that belongs to the Ministry of Health, every medical record of a citizen is saved in the network and can be accessed by any public health institution. This allows doctors, dentists, pharmacists, or opticians to access the medical record of the patient in any clinic or hospital. Therefore, the patient can approach any one of the clinics that is nearer to him or her, and can be treated by any doctor or dentist available.
Another difference between the systems of healthcare provision in Kuwait and Britain is the organization of medical departments for particular health problems.
