Why Japan doesn’t clap for its key workers

There has certainly been no shortage of praise for the NHS over recent weeks, and the speed at which the service has moved to meet the coronavirus threat has undoubtedly been impressive. But it is always worth looking abroad to see how the NHS could improve. And Japan’s own version offers a useful model.

I had my first real experience of the Japanese health care system last year when I fell down a concrete staircase at my workplace. I was treated at one of Tokyo’s most prestigious hospitals (the one prime minister Shinzo Abe uses, apparently). The treatment I received was quick and efficient, if a little impersonal. The customer may be God in Japan, but as a patient, I felt more like a defective product on an assembly line being passed from one operative to another, and then summarily dispatched. I was struck that at no point did anyone ask if I was in pain, though they did check very quickly if I had insurance.