In general, it seems dumb for health systems to restrict the ability of individuals to purchase supplementary services. If I want to get an MRIs for fun, I should be able to. But if the citizens of the United Kingdom want to elevate solidarity above access, that's rather their business. They can always vote to do something else if they change their minds. It does not, as some suggest, expose a deeper flaw within "European" health systems. Germany, France, Sweden, Norway, and so forth don't face this problem. Indeed, they've not found it terribly hard to guarantee a floor of benefits without putting a ceiling on available treatments. To some degree, this mix-up is a natural function of folks knowing more about nations that are closely associated with America (Canada, Britain) and assuming they can generalize those examples out to "Europe." But you can no more do that than you can talk about the "North American" model, which would have to somehow fit America, Canada, and Mexico. And you particularly can't do it with Britain and Canada, who have almost uniquely statist health care systems.
