or an insurance based scheme like much of Europe, which works exceptionally well?
Excuse my ignorance on stuff like this, but how would that work here. We have to pay a health insurance premium per year or something like that. Then what happens? If we get injured or are unwell and we go to hospital for treatment, the insurance company picks up the cost? Is that how it would work or have I misunderstood completely?
Much as I hate to praise the French for anything (other than Kerm) I have to say that their healthcare system kicks seven buckets of shit out of ours and I'd vote for pretty much any party that promised to introduce it here.
My fear with an inurance based system is that patients with pre existing conditions would be shafted.
This already happens in the private sector.
But your contributions are based on ability to pay, not on your health etc.
Great theory, can't see the insurance companies going along with it though, not exactly renown for their philanthropic ways.
or an insurance based scheme like much of Europe, which works exceptionally well?
Excuse my ignorance on stuff like this, but how would that work here. We have to pay a health insurance premium per year or something like that. Then what happens? If we get injured or are unwell and we go to hospital for treatment, the insurance company picks up the cost? Is that how it would work or have I misunderstood completely?
Much as I hate to praise the French for anything (other than Kerm) I have to say that their healthcare system kicks seven buckets of shit out of ours and I'd vote for pretty much any party that promised to introduce it here.
My fear with an inurance based system is that patients with pre existing conditions would be shafted.
This already happens in the private sector.
But your contributions are based on ability to pay, not on your health etc.
Great theory, can't see the insurance companies going along with it though, not exactly renown for their philanthropic ways.
Except the 'insurance companies' are actually mutuals and are not for profit. I have worked for one for the last 12 years after spending 10 years in the commercial insurance market and I can say, hand on heart, that we do not act in the way that people expect an 'insurer' to act.
If, as Rizzo says, everyone is given a "clean" health sheet it might work.
However the insurance companies will want to provide exclusions further down the line, ie what are presently pre existing conditions, as their motivation for getting involved is profit.
How do we get around that and protect the vulnerable?
The way I see it is that the NHS is mired with people who don't actually have much to do with patient care and actually suck money out of the system. I know very well a woman who works at a Doctors practice she is a "assistant practice manager" basically in the 5 years we have known her she has rarely worked a full week and treats the up to 6 weeks/annum sick leave as holiday. That means that her salary is being paid but she isn't actually contributing anything a 100% cost.
In my company at least if you are continually sick you will be asked to attend a medical by a company appointed doctor who will assess your fitness to work. The upshot is that the culture is such that people only have time off when they genuinely need it not just because they have got up feeling tired and decide a day at home would be nice.
This isn't the whole problem but it is a large contributor. Too much costly and unnecessary administration and too many people working the system.
or an insurance based scheme like much of Europe, which works exceptionally well?
Excuse my ignorance on stuff like this, but how would that work here. We have to pay a health insurance premium per year or something like that. Then what happens? If we get injured or are unwell and we go to hospital for treatment, the insurance company picks up the cost? Is that how it would work or have I misunderstood completely?
Much as I hate to praise the French for anything (other than Kerm) I have to say that their healthcare system kicks seven buckets of shit out of ours and I'd vote for pretty much any party that promised to introduce it here.
My fear with an inurance based system is that patients with pre existing conditions would be shafted.
This already happens in the private sector.
But your contributions are based on ability to pay, not on your health etc.
Great theory, can't see the insurance companies going along with it though, not exactly renown for their philanthropic ways.
But... it does work, the French healthcare system is substantially better than ours... And at a cheaper cost. The US look down on the French system as "socialist" if that helps?
I am currently on the waiting list for a knee replacement operation with Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust. Last week I attended a pre-assessment clinic to determine my fitness for surgery and was told I'm okay. I was told the blood tests, MRSA swabs etc. are valid for 8 weeks and if I don't have my op within that time, I will have to have them again.
As I hadn't heard anything about a date for my operation, I just telephoned Maidstone hospital and was advised that my op will probably be in April or May. That means I will have to undergo the tests again. What a waste of my time and the staff at the hospital and more importantly tax payer's money. No wonder the NHS is in such a mess financially.
Your operation is almost certainly classed as non emergency and you'll be pushed back in the queue as and when more urgent operations are necessary. As for the tests etc that you mention, your metabolism will change during a wait for treatment & medical staff like to have the most up to date data on your condition before they operate. All in all your time spent taking more tests etc is not wasted, more tests are a necessary precaution to prevent the possibility of your kicking the bucket on the operating table. Yes the NHS is wasteful in many cases, it is a huge and unwieldy organisation run by human beings and human beings are very wasteful animals. For my part, any waste although reprehensible, is waste in a good cause.
or an insurance based scheme like much of Europe, which works exceptionally well?
Excuse my ignorance on stuff like this, but how would that work here. We have to pay a health insurance premium per year or something like that. Then what happens? If we get injured or are unwell and we go to hospital for treatment, the insurance company picks up the cost? Is that how it would work or have I misunderstood completely?
Much as I hate to praise the French for anything (other than Kerm) I have to say that their healthcare system kicks seven buckets of shit out of ours and I'd vote for pretty much any party that promised to introduce it here.
My fear with an inurance based system is that patients with pre existing conditions would be shafted.
This already happens in the private sector.
But your contributions are based on ability to pay, not on your health etc.
Great theory, can't see the insurance companies going along with it though, not exactly renown for their philanthropic ways.
But... it does work, the French healthcare system is substantially better than ours... And at a cheaper cost. The US look down on the French system as "socialist" if that helps?
LOL... I wasn't trying to score a political point, sorry if it came across that way.
I could have it totally wrong, but the way I have read it, the French system seems to be mostly funded by government, like the NHS, and the people pay into the system, what we call national insurance. Just seems to be vastly more efficient? Private insurance is an addition, as in the UK?
Don't quite get Rizzo's point. I have insurance with HSBC, I didn't realise they were mutual?
If I want to take out health insurance today would I be covered for any eventuality, even though I had a heart attack four months ago?
I am currently on the waiting list for a knee replacement operation with Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust. Last week I attended a pre-assessment clinic to determine my fitness for surgery and was told I'm okay. I was told the blood tests, MRSA swabs etc. are valid for 8 weeks and if I don't have my op within that time, I will have to have them again.
As I hadn't heard anything about a date for my operation, I just telephoned Maidstone hospital and was advised that my op will probably be in April or May. That means I will have to undergo the tests again. What a waste of my time and the staff at the hospital and more importantly tax payer's money. No wonder the NHS is in such a mess financially.
Your operation is almost certainly classed as non emergency and you'll be pushed back in the queue as and when more urgent operations are necessary. As for the tests etc that you mention, your metabolism will change during a wait for treatment & medical staff like to have the most up to date data on your condition before they operate. All in all your time spent taking more tests etc is not wasted, more tests are a necessary precaution to prevent the possibility of your kicking the bucket on the operating table. Yes the NHS is wasteful in many cases, it is a huge and unwieldy organisation run by human beings and human beings are very wasteful animals. For my part, any waste although reprehensible, is waste in a good cause.
100% accurate Lincs. on the face of it this seems wasteful but is necessary whilst being at the mercy of bed availability and operating schedules which of course must change to reflect clinical need. There are of course many ways in which the NHS could be accused of being wasteful but this is not one of them.
Missed appointments cost the NHS millions each year yet the simple remedy of charging patients for missing an appointment is not implemented. I doubt not bothering to turn up at either your hospital outpatient department or GP surgery would be as frequent if it hit you in the pocket. It would also make sense in my opinion to charge a small means tested fee for seeing your GP. £5:00 ? This would in my estimation reduce the number of visits to the GP considerably. Attendance at A&E for anything other than a real and significant problem should also be stamped out. More than half of all A&E attendees could easily wait to be seen by their GP or Practice Nurse. Few people take advantage of ringing NHS Direct to obtain advice as to the best course of action and consequently the NHS is bogged down and drained of resources quite unnecessarily. People call for an ambulance for all sorts of inappropriate reasons.
It's easy to blame us lazy, murdering, germ spreading, wasteful NHS staff with our gold plated pensions (see The Daily Mail) for the ills of the NHS but so much could be done to help by the general population if they wernt to thick.
or an insurance based scheme like much of Europe, which works exceptionally well?
Excuse my ignorance on stuff like this, but how would that work here. We have to pay a health insurance premium per year or something like that. Then what happens? If we get injured or are unwell and we go to hospital for treatment, the insurance company picks up the cost? Is that how it would work or have I misunderstood completely?
Much as I hate to praise the French for anything (other than Kerm) I have to say that their healthcare system kicks seven buckets of shit out of ours and I'd vote for pretty much any party that promised to introduce it here.
My fear with an inurance based system is that patients with pre existing conditions would be shafted.
This already happens in the private sector.
It could be a problem. If we were introducing the system 'from scratch' I think everyone would need to start with a clean sheet otherwise it would never work.
If Travel Insurance is anything to go by, my brother is unable to get insurance without paying excessive premiums because of his mental health problems. Doesnt bare thinking about.
Attendance at A&E for anything other than a real and significant problem should also be stamped out. More than half of all A&E attendees could easily wait to be seen by their GP or Practice Nurse. Few people take advantage of ringing NHS Direct to obtain advice as to the best course of action and consequently the NHS is bogged down and drained of resources quite unnecessarily. People call for an ambulance for all sorts of inappropriate reasons.
Of course a lot of this is true SHG but there is always two sides to everything. Our doctors practice has so many patients and that is because it increases their funding allowance, hence when you want to see a doctor you can't. Mrs dave suffers with Sinus problems it's not a serious complaint I admit but when she gets a bad cold it inevitably turns to an infection in the Sinus. Last time she was getting severe nose bleeds and was generally very unwell but despite numerous attempts we struggled to get an appointment to see the doctor. So they ask you to phone up, which we did and despite a history of the same problem the doctor refused to prescribe any medication and told us that my wife had to come to the surgery so we are back on the same treadmill crazy! So what are the alternatives? Certainly not A&E so eventaully we went to a walk in clinic in Crayford and after 2 hours got seen, antibiotics prescribed and after 2 days she was getting better.
My point is that after a while people who feel unwell get desperate, sure there are the numpties who call an ambulance because they have a cold, but some of the so called time wasting is created by the system. If you can't see your own doctor then what else do you do? I know we probably disagree on this mate but there is a problem with the way the NHS allocates it resources.
Attendance at A&E for anything other than a real and significant problem should also be stamped out. More than half of all A&E attendees could easily wait to be seen by their GP or Practice Nurse. Few people take advantage of ringing NHS Direct to obtain advice as to the best course of action and consequently the NHS is bogged down and drained of resources quite unnecessarily. People call for an ambulance for all sorts of inappropriate reasons.
Of course a lot of this is true SHG but there is always two sides to everything. Our doctors practice has so many patients and that is because it increases their funding allowance, hence when you want to see a doctor you can't. Mrs dave suffers with Sinus problems it's not a serious complaint I admit but when she gets a bad cold it inevitably turns to an infection in the Sinus. Last time she was getting severe nose bleeds and was generally very unwell but despite numerous attempts we struggled to get an appointment to see the doctor. So they ask you to phone up, which we did and despite a history of the same problem the doctor refused to prescribe any medication and told us that my wife had to come to the surgery so we are back on the same treadmill crazy! So what are the alternatives? Certainly not A&E so eventaully we went to a walk in clinic in Crayford and after 2 hours got seen, antibiotics prescribed and after 2 days she was getting better.
My point is that after a while people who feel unwell get desperate, sure there are the numpties who call an ambulance because they have a cold, but some of the so called time wasting is created by the system. If you can't see your own doctor then what else do you do? I know we probably disagree on this mate but there is a problem with the way the NHS allocates it resources.
To my knowledge all GP surgeries are affiliated to an out of hours service that you can attend. You can ring NHS Direct and speak to a nurse to ask advice as to whether you need urgent attention or you can wait. The options are available but few even consider it as an alternative to pitching up at A &E with a bad headache or a case of the trots.
I am currently on the waiting list for a knee replacement operation with Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust. Last week I attended a pre-assessment clinic to determine my fitness for surgery and was told I'm okay. I was told the blood tests, MRSA swabs etc. are valid for 8 weeks and if I don't have my op within that time, I will have to have them again.
As I hadn't heard anything about a date for my operation, I just telephoned Maidstone hospital and was advised that my op will probably be in April or May. That means I will have to undergo the tests again. What a waste of my time and the staff at the hospital and more importantly tax payer's money. No wonder the NHS is in such a mess financially.
Your operation is almost certainly classed as non emergency and you'll be pushed back in the queue as and when more urgent operations are necessary. As for the tests etc that you mention, your metabolism will change during a wait for treatment & medical staff like to have the most up to date data on your condition before they operate. All in all your time spent taking more tests etc is not wasted, more tests are a necessary precaution to prevent the possibility of your kicking the bucket on the operating table. Yes the NHS is wasteful in many cases, it is a huge and unwieldy organisation run by human beings and human beings are very wasteful animals. For my part, any waste although reprehensible, is waste in a good cause.
100% accurate Lincs. on the face of it this seems wasteful but is necessary whilst being at the mercy of bed availability and operating schedules which of course must change to reflect clinical need. There are of course many ways in which the NHS could be accused of being wasteful but this is not one of them.
Missed appointments cost the NHS millions each year yet the simple remedy of charging patients for missing an appointment is not implemented. I doubt not bothering to turn up at either your hospital outpatient department or GP surgery would be as frequent if it hit you in the pocket. It would also make sense in my opinion to charge a small means tested fee for seeing your GP. £5:00 ? This would in my estimation reduce the number of visits to the GP considerably. Attendance at A&E for anything other than a real and significant problem should also be stamped out. More than half of all A&E attendees could easily wait to be seen by their GP or Practice Nurse. Few people take advantage of ringing NHS Direct to obtain advice as to the best course of action and consequently the NHS is bogged down and drained of resources quite unnecessarily. People call for an ambulance for all sorts of inappropriate reasons.
I am currently on the waiting list for a knee replacement operation with Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust. Last week I attended a pre-assessment clinic to determine my fitness for surgery and was told I'm okay. I was told the blood tests, MRSA swabs etc. are valid for 8 weeks and if I don't have my op within that time, I will have to have them again.
As I hadn't heard anything about a date for my operation, I just telephoned Maidstone hospital and was advised that my op will probably be in April or May. That means I will have to undergo the tests again. What a waste of my time and the staff at the hospital and more importantly tax payer's money. No wonder the NHS is in such a mess financially.
Your operation is almost certainly classed as non emergency and you'll be pushed back in the queue as and when more urgent operations are necessary. As for the tests etc that you mention, your metabolism will change during a wait for treatment & medical staff like to have the most up to date data on your condition before they operate. All in all your time spent taking more tests etc is not wasted, more tests are a necessary precaution to prevent the possibility of your kicking the bucket on the operating table. Yes the NHS is wasteful in many cases, it is a huge and unwieldy organisation run by human beings and human beings are very wasteful animals. For my part, any waste although reprehensible, is waste in a good cause.
100% accurate Lincs. on the face of it this seems wasteful but is necessary whilst being at the mercy of bed availability and operating schedules which of course must change to reflect clinical need. There are of course many ways in which the NHS could be accused of being wasteful but this is not one of them.
Missed appointments cost the NHS millions each year yet the simple remedy of charging patients for missing an appointment is not implemented. I doubt not bothering to turn up at either your hospital outpatient department or GP surgery would be as frequent if it hit you in the pocket. It would also make sense in my opinion to charge a small means tested fee for seeing your GP. £5:00 ? This would in my estimation reduce the number of visits to the GP considerably. Attendance at A&E for anything other than a real and significant problem should also be stamped out. More than half of all A&E attendees could easily wait to be seen by their GP or Practice Nurse. Few people take advantage of ringing NHS Direct to obtain advice as to the best course of action and consequently the NHS is bogged down and drained of resources quite unnecessarily. People call for an ambulance for all sorts of inappropriate reasons.
It's easy to blame us lazy, murdering, germ spreading, wasteful NHS staff with our gold plated pensions (see The Daily Mail) for the ills of the NHS but so much could be done to help by the general population if they wernt to thick.
A Terrific post S H G .. written by a man with an obvious passion for his chosen vocation. Many memebers of 'The public' should check their own morals, behaviour and motives before casting too many stones at great public institutions like the NHS. I really wish that sometimes members of the government were to stand up and say to 'the public' when necessary and justified, words to the effect of: 'Fuck off and get real' , although of course such language, although many times justified, would not be a vote winner.
That is correct SHG and our doctors is associated to Grabadoc but you have to wait for a doctor to call and then you may not get an appointment. As I see it healthcare is much better than before, you can survive many illnesses and injuries that not so many years ago would have been fatal, but day to day seeing a doctor because you have a chest infection or something similar has become more difficult that it should be. Seems we have different opinions but I can only go by experience and these days it's not very good.
The way I see it is that the NHS is mired with people who don't actually have much to do with patient care and actually suck money out of the system. I know very well a woman who works at a Doctors practice she is a "assistant practice manager" basically in the 5 years we have known her she has rarely worked a full week and treats the up to 6 weeks/annum sick leave as holiday. That means that her salary is being paid but she isn't actually contributing anything a 100% cost.
In my company at least if you are continually sick you will be asked to attend a medical by a company appointed doctor who will assess your fitness to work. The upshot is that the culture is such that people only have time off when they genuinely need it not just because they have got up feeling tired and decide a day at home would be nice.
This isn't the whole problem but it is a large contributor. Too much costly and unnecessary administration and too many people working the system.
Ignoring the issue of this particular persons sickness, which can be just as much a problem in the private sector tbh, what is the alternative to having someone employed to fulfill an administative roll in the health service?
My mother had an admin job in a hospital and worked her socks off at it doing many hours of unpaid overtime every week, much to the detriment of her health in the end and she wasn't alone.
The alternative to your point of view is what? Would you prefer consultants do their own filing, appointments, record keeping? Would you prefer it if the doctor didn't have time for you becuase he was dealing with a building contractor about a project or the surgeon couldn't do your operation because they were too busy filling in the latest return to central government about waiting time or the endless other requests they are obliged to fulfill.
I'm not syaing there's not waste work done in the NHS, it's a large massive organisation after all, but I do think it's a bit lazy and simplistic to to blame it on the administrators that work there.
I am currently on the waiting list for a knee replacement operation with Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust. Last week I attended a pre-assessment clinic to determine my fitness for surgery and was told I'm okay. I was told the blood tests, MRSA swabs etc. are valid for 8 weeks and if I don't have my op within that time, I will have to have them again.
As I hadn't heard anything about a date for my operation, I just telephoned Maidstone hospital and was advised that my op will probably be in April or May. That means I will have to undergo the tests again. What a waste of my time and the staff at the hospital and more importantly tax payer's money. No wonder the NHS is in such a mess financially.
Your operation is almost certainly classed as non emergency and you'll be pushed back in the queue as and when more urgent operations are necessary. As for the tests etc that you mention, your metabolism will change during a wait for treatment & medical staff like to have the most up to date data on your condition before they operate. All in all your time spent taking more tests etc is not wasted, more tests are a necessary precaution to prevent the possibility of your kicking the bucket on the operating table. Yes the NHS is wasteful in many cases, it is a huge and unwieldy organisation run by human beings and human beings are very wasteful animals. For my part, any waste although reprehensible, is waste in a good cause.
But why not call me in for the tests as soon as they know when I'm going to have my op. They sent the letter to me in January asking me to go for my pre-op assessment. They must have known then that I wouldn't actually have the operation until April or May.
Not sure the initial case is an example of waste- more of the pressures the NHS faces. You're argument is to avoid the waste the NHS should have undertaken the operation within the necessary period. I'm sure that is what they intended and wanted to do, but due to a demand and resources imbalance, they have had to postpone. Not sure there is any solution other than spending more money on the NHS so they don't have to postpone ops, but there will always be a limit to what you can spend.
I am currently on the waiting list for a knee replacement operation with Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust. Last week I attended a pre-assessment clinic to determine my fitness for surgery and was told I'm okay. I was told the blood tests, MRSA swabs etc. are valid for 8 weeks and if I don't have my op within that time, I will have to have them aga
As I hadn't heard anything about a date for my operation, I just telephoned Maidstone hospital and was advised that my op will probably be in April or May. That means I will have to undergo the tests again. What a waste of my time and the staff at the hospital and more importantly tax payer's money. No wonder the NHS is in such a mess financially.
Your operation is almost certainly classed as non emergency and you'll be pushed back in the queue as and when more urgent operations are necessary. As for the tests etc that you mention, your metabolism will change during a wait for treatment & medical staff like to have the most up to date data on your condition before they operate. All in all your time spent taking more tests etc is not wasted, more tests are a necessary precaution to prevent the possibility of your kicking the bucket on the operating table. Yes the NHS is wasteful in many cases, it is a huge and unwieldy organisation run by human beings and human beings are very wasteful animals. For my part, any waste although reprehensible, is waste in a good cause.
But why not call me in for the tests as soon as they know when I'm going to have my op. They sent the letter to me in January asking me to go for my pre-op assessment. They must have known then that I wouldn't actually have the operation until April or May.
It seems that we are back to the impossibility of knowing precisely when your operation will take place because of emergencies etc. Also, it is difficult to match up the schedules/time slots available in the support departments for taking blood, ECGs etc to match your scheduled operation time. I agree that there are anomalies and inefficiences in the NHS. The thing is generally everyone within the service does their best. All I can say is that MY NHS treatment has been superb and ran/runs like clockwork. A little anecdote. My dad waited months for a similar operation to yours. He then got a phone call at about 8 o'clock one evening: 'can you be at the hospital by 7 o'clock tomorrow morning for your operation?'. The surgeons were ready, the scheduled patient was not fit enough to undergo surgery, there was a slot in the surgeons' session. This to my mind is VERY efficient use of resources and I understand such events are commonplace within the NHS. As an aside, my impression is that far from getting worse, the NHS overall gets better and better all the time. Incidents such as those at Stafford do happen from time to time. The beauty is that such awful occurences are discovered and rectified and not covered up so that no one is the wiser and things remain the same.
or an insurance based scheme like much of Europe, which works exceptionally well?
Excuse my ignorance on stuff like this, but how would that work here. We have to pay a health insurance premium per year or something like that. Then what happens? If we get injured or are unwell and we go to hospital for treatment, the insurance company picks up the cost? Is that how it would work or have I misunderstood completely?
Much as I hate to praise the French for anything (other than Kerm) I have to say that their healthcare system kicks seven buckets of shit out of ours and I'd vote for pretty much any party that promised to introduce it here.
I am currently on the waiting list for a knee replacement operation with Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust. Last week I attended a pre-assessment clinic to determine my fitness for surgery and was told I'm okay. I was told the blood tests, MRSA swabs etc. are valid for 8 weeks and if I don't have my op within that time, I will have to have them again.
As I hadn't heard anything about a date for my operation, I just telephoned Maidstone hospital and was advised that my op will probably be in April or May. That means I will have to undergo the tests again. What a waste of my time and the staff at the hospital and more importantly tax payer's money. No wonder the NHS is in such a mess financially.
Your operation is almost certainly classed as non emergency and you'll be pushed back in the queue as and when more urgent operations are necessary. As for the tests etc that you mention, your metabolism will change during a wait for treatment & medical staff like to have the most up to date data on your condition before they operate. All in all your time spent taking more tests etc is not wasted, more tests are a necessary precaution to prevent the possibility of your kicking the bucket on the operating table. Yes the NHS is wasteful in many cases, it is a huge and unwieldy organisation run by human beings and human beings are very wasteful animals. For my part, any waste although reprehensible, is waste in a good cause.
But why not call me in for the tests as soon as they know when I'm going to have my op. They sent the letter to me in January asking me to go for my pre-op assessment. They must have known then that I wouldn't actually have the operation until April or May.
They probably had a waiting time target.
By sending the letter they could tick the appropiate box. Your clinical needs are almost totally irrelevant unless they match the particular target that needs to be met.
I have family members, as I've posted before, who have died through euthanasia without consent (starved and dehydrated to death. The staff, when questioned, lied that the person was being prepared for an operation. For 4 days prior to death?) and neglect (left for hours on the floor with a fractured hip having fallen out of bed in a ward) courtesy of the NHS so I am not quoting the Daily Mail before some arsehole posts that or similar.
Another family member used to work as an administrator and admitted that they used to post letters giving appointments, followed immediately by cancellation letters, as such action (somehow!) fulfilled the target criteria!
As for waste what about the billions spent on a computer system that is unfit for purpose!
I think we have done this before but the people that treated if that's what it can be called your family is such appalling fashion are nothing less than negligent health care profesionals at best and at worst criminals. They should be called to account and punished accordingly. What I can assure you of is that there is 100% definitely not any kind of conspiracy or strategy to euthanase anyone. Do you really believe that ? I have a very strict code of conduct for my profession as a radiographer of which I can say that I and all my colleagues to a man/woman adhere and are very proud to do so. Certainly where I work any form of ill treatment, negligence or neglect of patients would generate an outcry from the staff and the management. It simply wouldn't be tolerated. To condemn all parts of the NHS because of the actions of a few appalling ward staff is simply wrong.
"A friend of mine has a theory". Don't suppose he's a member of the loony left is he! Hope we do get rid of the NHS as it's been totally abused, leaving the poor doctors & nurses overworked & underpaid.
Surely that is more or less what my mate said? Only difference is you appear to want it to close ( would be interested in your opinion on the alternative ), he wants to bring it back to what it used to be.
In Portugal we have a similar system to the UK, but you pay a small amount to see the doctor (€5 at the moment), and for any tests etc. Seems to work quite well, keeps the hypochondriacs away.
Don't forget that being Britain, your national insurance payments would remain the same, they would not drop to compensate for paying out for your health insurance.
This can be debated till the cows come home but to answer your question, I favour the for-profit and Medicare alternatives. I.e the American system. The NHS is like a wounded animal. You still love it but it needs to be put down. It has been abused by both governments and we need an alternative.
I still think that better planning could be done. I originally saw the consultant at the end of October and was told the waiting list was 3 - 6 months and I had no problem with that. It still seems ridiculous to me to have the tests done when they knew there was little chance of my having the operation within the 8 weeks that those tests remain valid.
If I have to undergo the tests again, it will have been a waste of my time, my employer's time (I had paid time off work to attend) and the time of the staff who carried out the original tests, as well as the actual cost of carrying out the tests .
Another big waste is medications. In my opinion no-one (bar under 16's) should be given non prescription items for free ((because they are on benefits or over 65 etc) people are given paracetamol, ibuorofen, aspirin etc free on the nhs because they can. Not only would this save a lot of money it would save waste. People often just get as much of the free drug as they can and they never actually use it.
I think we have done this before but the people that treated if that's what it can be called your family is such appalling fashion are nothing less than negligent health care profesionals at best and at worst criminals. They should be called to account and punished accordingly. What I can assure you of is that there is 100% definitely not any kind of conspiracy or strategy to euthanase anyone. Do you really believe that ? I have a very strict code of conduct for my profession as a radiographer of which I can say that I and all my colleagues to a man/woman adhere and are very proud to do so. Certainly where I work any form of ill treatment, negligence or neglect of patients would generate an outcry from the staff and the management. It simply wouldn't be tolerated. To condemn all parts of the NHS because of the actions of a few appalling ward staff is simply wrong.
I respect your view SHG as someone who works there and gives of his best.
However I can only judge it based on the experiences I've described and information I've heard from both disillusioned "suits" and "white coats."
I'm in the position of praying to God that I drop dead or die in my bed at home when my time comes because the thought of being tended to by the NHS as it stands scares the shit out of me.
I'd sooner do service in Afghanistan.
I never go anywhere near the doctor unless it is to get more anti inflammatory painkillers for my arthritic condition which I can't buy over the counter.
Even then the pitbull that masquerades as a receptionist makes me feel I shouldn't be there!
Comments
However the insurance companies will want to provide exclusions further down the line, ie what are presently pre existing conditions, as their motivation for getting involved is profit.
How do we get around that and protect the vulnerable?
In my company at least if you are continually sick you will be asked to attend a medical by a company appointed doctor who will assess your fitness to work. The upshot is that the culture is such that people only have time off when they genuinely need it not just because they have got up feeling tired and decide a day at home would be nice.
This isn't the whole problem but it is a large contributor. Too much costly and unnecessary administration and too many people working the system.
Yes the NHS is wasteful in many cases, it is a huge and unwieldy organisation run by human beings and human beings are very wasteful animals. For my part, any waste although reprehensible, is waste in a good cause.
I could have it totally wrong, but the way I have read it, the French system seems to be mostly funded by government, like the NHS, and the people pay into the system, what we call national insurance. Just seems to be vastly more efficient? Private insurance is an addition, as in the UK?
Don't quite get Rizzo's point. I have insurance with HSBC, I didn't realise they were mutual?
If I want to take out health insurance today would I be covered for any eventuality, even though I had a heart attack four months ago?
Missed appointments cost the NHS millions each year yet the simple remedy of charging patients for missing an appointment is not implemented. I doubt not bothering to turn up at either your hospital outpatient department or GP surgery would be as frequent if it hit you in the pocket. It would also make sense in my opinion to charge a small means tested fee for seeing your GP. £5:00 ? This would in my estimation reduce the number of visits to the GP considerably. Attendance at A&E for anything other than a real and significant problem should also be stamped out. More than half of all A&E attendees could easily wait to be seen by their GP or Practice Nurse. Few people take advantage of ringing NHS Direct to obtain advice as to the best course of action and consequently the NHS is bogged down and drained of resources quite unnecessarily. People call for an ambulance for all sorts of inappropriate reasons.
It's easy to blame us lazy, murdering, germ spreading, wasteful NHS staff with our gold plated pensions (see The Daily Mail) for the ills of the NHS but so much could be done to help by the general population if they wernt to thick.
Attendance at A&E for anything other than a real and significant problem should also be stamped out. More than half of all A&E attendees could easily wait to be seen by their GP or Practice Nurse. Few people take advantage of ringing NHS Direct to obtain advice as to the best course of action and consequently the NHS is bogged down and drained of resources quite unnecessarily. People call for an ambulance for all sorts of inappropriate reasons.
Of course a lot of this is true SHG but there is always two sides to everything. Our doctors practice has so many patients and that is because it increases their funding allowance, hence when you want to see a doctor you can't. Mrs dave suffers with Sinus problems it's not a serious complaint I admit but when she gets a bad cold it inevitably turns to an infection in the Sinus. Last time she was getting severe nose bleeds and was generally very unwell but despite numerous attempts we struggled to get an appointment to see the doctor. So they ask you to phone up, which we did and despite a history of the same problem the doctor refused to prescribe any medication and told us that my wife had to come to the surgery so we are back on the same treadmill crazy! So what are the alternatives? Certainly not A&E so eventaully we went to a walk in clinic in Crayford and after 2 hours got seen, antibiotics prescribed and after 2 days she was getting better.
My point is that after a while people who feel unwell get desperate, sure there are the numpties who call an ambulance because they have a cold, but some of the so called time wasting is created by the system. If you can't see your own doctor then what else do you do? I know we probably disagree on this mate but there is a problem with the way the NHS allocates it resources.
I really wish that sometimes members of the government were to stand up and say to 'the public' when necessary and justified, words to the effect of: 'Fuck off and get real' , although of course such language, although many times justified, would not be a vote winner.
http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/1088.aspx?CategoryID=68&SubCategoryID=158
My mother had an admin job in a hospital and worked her socks off at it doing many hours of unpaid overtime every week, much to the detriment of her health in the end and she wasn't alone.
The alternative to your point of view is what? Would you prefer consultants do their own filing, appointments, record keeping? Would you prefer it if the doctor didn't have time for you becuase he was dealing with a building contractor about a project or the surgeon couldn't do your operation because they were too busy filling in the latest return to central government about waiting time or the endless other requests they are obliged to fulfill.
I'm not syaing there's not waste work done in the NHS, it's a
largemassive organisation after all, but I do think it's a bit lazy and simplistic to to blame it on the administrators that work there.A little anecdote. My dad waited months for a similar operation to yours. He then got a phone call at about 8 o'clock one evening: 'can you be at the hospital by 7 o'clock tomorrow morning for your operation?'. The surgeons were ready, the scheduled patient was not fit enough to undergo surgery, there was a slot in the surgeons' session. This to my mind is VERY efficient use of resources and I understand such events are commonplace within the NHS.
As an aside, my impression is that far from getting worse, the NHS overall gets better and better all the time. Incidents such as those at Stafford do happen from time to time. The beauty is that such awful occurences are discovered and rectified and not covered up so that no one is the wiser and things remain the same.
5 million in 10 years coming in
PFI
Universal benefits
Credit Crunch
all of the above are massive issues. huge political problems which will never be addressed.
Its a wonder the system works at all
By sending the letter they could tick the appropiate box. Your clinical needs are almost totally irrelevant unless they match the particular target that needs to be met.
I have family members, as I've posted before, who have died through euthanasia without consent (starved and dehydrated to death. The staff, when questioned, lied that the person was being prepared for an operation. For 4 days prior to death?) and neglect (left for hours on the floor with a fractured hip having fallen out of bed in a ward) courtesy of the NHS so I am not quoting the Daily Mail before some arsehole posts that or similar.
Another family member used to work as an administrator and admitted that they used to post letters giving appointments, followed immediately by cancellation letters, as such action (somehow!) fulfilled the target criteria!
As for waste what about the billions spent on a computer system that is unfit for purpose!
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/nhs-pulls-the-plug-on-its-11bn-it-system-2330906.html
I think we have done this before but the people that treated if that's what it can be called your family is such appalling fashion are nothing less than negligent health care profesionals at best and at worst criminals. They should be called to account and punished accordingly. What I can assure you of is that there is 100% definitely not any kind of conspiracy or strategy to euthanase anyone. Do you really believe that ? I have a very strict code of conduct for my profession as a radiographer of which I can say that I and all my colleagues to a man/woman adhere and are very proud to do so. Certainly where I work any form of ill treatment, negligence or neglect of patients would generate an outcry from the staff and the management. It simply wouldn't be tolerated. To condemn all parts of the NHS because of the actions of a few appalling ward staff is simply wrong.
If I have to undergo the tests again, it will have been a waste of my time, my employer's time (I had paid time off work to attend) and the time of the staff who carried out the original tests, as well as the actual cost of carrying out the tests .
However I can only judge it based on the experiences I've described and information I've heard from both disillusioned "suits" and "white coats."
I'm in the position of praying to God that I drop dead or die in my bed at home when my time comes because the thought of being tended to by the NHS as it stands scares the shit out of me.
I'd sooner do service in Afghanistan.
I never go anywhere near the doctor unless it is to get more anti inflammatory painkillers for my arthritic condition which I can't buy over the counter.
Even then the pitbull that masquerades as a receptionist makes me feel I shouldn't be there!