Who hates the NHS

I meant their not there!

The NHS is rapidly becoming a religion at whose shrine we are encouraged to worship and be grateful. It is a public service, albeit a very important one, and is funded (supposedly) by our NI contributions and taxes. The fact that 44% of all public spending is allocated to it at the cost of other necessities like social care and education is worrying, as it still never seems to be enough. I do not think it is well run; I have had and still do have close relatives who worked/ work for it in a clinical capacity and they observe this constantly. I worked in accounts for the organisation for some years and saw for myself first hand. Reorganisation left to the NHS itself does not happen. The appointment of Amanda Pritchard as its current head demonstrated that the old guard are still in charge. It is a political football kicked from one ineffective government to another, whether Labour or Conservative, who all promise more money when it’s change that’s needed, which of course must improve staffing levels and performance for the better. I personally think that we should take a look at other countries’ models (NOT America, the one people insist we are on the brink of copying!). These work very well and mostly deliver far better and speedier outcomes than the NHS, facts constantly reported and of which we should be aware. While many regard the NHS with affection, there are many sceptics. I myself have had very good and very bad experiences with the NHS. I think the problem is that so many still regard it as ‘world class’ and ‘the envy of the world’ when the figures show it clearly is not.

I think hate is too strong a word. When the NHS is good it is very very good but when it is bad it is horrid.

Just now on RV this morning when someone said that there have been 25000 people working for the NHS who are trying to say what is wrong with it. One man, an eye surgeon , told his tale with tears in his eyes.

When the NHS was set up you could not be a consultant unless you went to the "correct" public school. Thats why 2 of my mothers cousins went to Australia; they were Grammar school boys!!!

One of my sisters passed all her exams during the bombing of London and then was not allowed to train as a nurse. as the "coloured" ladies were cheaper.

During the 50s and 60s mothers injected with chemicals to make sure they gave birth during working week days and the midwives and nurses cooperating.

Right at this moment doctors going on strike but in fact, apparently, most of them working in private hospitals .

Nurses constantly sniping about people working in foodshops loading shelves getting paid more than them.

The competition among NHS workers to see who can be on the most consultants waiting lists.

OK OK OK they save lives but isnt that there job?

I never got covid at all but I am disabled and housebound with ME/ CFS, an illness not recognized by the holy NHS and I say that the food shops and their staff saved my life because without their deliveries I would have starved to death.
Also thanks to the posties, the water people, gas, electricity etc etc etc.

If the NHS is so good how come life expectancy is going DOWN? How come we have the worst outcomes in Europe for childbirth?

This is all off the cuff and I did not even started on THEFT!

My mother, niece and i all work/worked for the NHS so i have huge respect for it as an institution and for all its workers. However, i, like hundreds, if not thousands of other sufferers, have Chronic Lyme Disease which it refuses to acknowledge or treat. It's a scandal that one day, hopefully soon, will be revealed.

Love it worked in it all my life but it desperately needs reorganization
Great idea has worked in the past but we have a larger population demanding more and more .
Could be re organised but takes a very brave government to do it >

Gillycats:

I think that if you’re lucky enough to have had good experiences then of course you’ll love it. But I fully understand how those failed by it have a very negative view. Especially when it’s down to incompetence. It’s still too much of a lottery for my liking.

Couldn't agree more!

I have mixed feelings about NHS. When it works it is great. Sometimes the admin is a disaster. Trying to book appointments with GP and as a hospital outpatient can be very frustrating. They tend to treat patients as children, not rational adults. I had a terrible birth experience as an older mother and feel I was lucky to come out with a healthy baby having a prolonged labour and episiotomy. Had to walk around the car park in labour as there wasn't a free bed. Also inconsiderate consultants. Still think about this 30 years later. I also feel sad about the treatment of my parents who both had cancer and the fact that they weren't fed unless we fed them as the food was just left on the tray. It's a great service that we are lucky to have but it could be so much better.

That is utter nonsense.

The Tories hate the NHS

I wound up calling an ambulance last October as I thought I was having a heart attack - chest and shoulder pain, dizzy, sweating and never felt so ill in my life. Paramedic took 45 minutes to arrive, just as well it wasn't a heart attack - and then he had to wait with me for over an hour whilst another ambulance came with two paramedics as my blood pressure had to be continually monitored plus I was hooked up to an ECG - my BP was 220/120, ECG was fine but they took me in for tests due to the sky high blood pressure. Got to the hospital and spent nearly an hour sitting in the ambulance until they were ready for me, still operating on covid protocols for some strange reason - no wonder its taking so long for ambulances to arrive with that kind of idiocy!

However, I cannot fault the A&E staff - they were lovely and really understanding about my needlephobia, they actually managed to get some blood out of me after three failed attempts formerly at my GP surgery. Then they put me in a room with the staff who were on their break whilst a bed became available - they didn't want to put me in reception due to me being over 50 and it was a weekend so there are usually drunks around. Got a bed fairly quickly, wired up to ECG, BP monitor and blood oxygen monitoring. Couple of hours later a doctor appeared and said the problem was my BP (had only just been started on low dose BP meds) plus a chest infection which explained the chest pain. Fortunately I already had a telephone appointment arranged with my doctor for a couple of days later, they already had my blood test results by then and my BP medication was doubled plus antibiotics prescribed for the infection. I was in and out of A&E within a few hours, thank god for Uber as I was discharged at 6.30am and needed a cab home.

There are definitely issues with the NHS - and it is a total postcode lottery, I am fortunate that I live in a city so its not as bad as some areas. I don't know what all the answers are - I am not sure anyone does, reform is needed in a number of areas but its a project that will take many years.

I neither hate it nor like to hear too much criticism of it as thanks to the NHS I had four babies safely delivered, and one life saving operation, it also saved my husbands life when he had a heart attack during lockdown, saved my mums life, again during lockdown and gave my Dad two more chances at life when they treated his two separate primary cancers. I know several doctors and nurses personally and my cousin is a hospital consultant at a large NHS children’s hospital

i will never hate the nhs, there is problems but they have kept me alive with cancer and sepsis, so it's a thanks from me. maybe if they got rid of some of the pencil pushers at the top and employed people that have worked on the ground floor that understand what it is like to work on wards and a&e, stick some of them on a&e for a few days to see what it is like and they might have a better understanding of what nurses and doctors have to do.

Love my health authority if I hadn't moved here I wouldn't have the brilliant healthcare I get. Have a brilliant GP who sent me to see a cardiologist and neurologist in 2020. Found out I was born with a little hole side of my heart and have PAF so on medication for. And if it was for my neurologist I would still be suffering from limbs jerks which I had been for 32 years and 4 months of seizures put me in medication and my limbs have been still since March 2020. Plus he sent my blood off to be genetically tested in January 2020. But only got the results March last year so I know what disability I was born with and it's rare. My old GP and neurologist could have done those things but didn't took me moving over 100 miles to the north west. But better late than never. I am 65 .

They were absolutely brilliant for my son last year. They acted so quickly, I'm so grateful.

We don’t hate the NHS, we HATE what is being done to it!

I agree the NHS is not what it was. Many other countries have better health services the UK and the US are amongst the worst. I have worked for the NHS in the distant past, the amount of waste I saw was unbelievable- too many chiefs and not enough Indians.

I know three people who are suing my local hospital for one unnecessary death and two life changing cockups.

In England we pay extra for prescriptions, dentist, optician, chiropodist etc., all that was once included in the NHS.

The treatment I received for cancer was no different to that given to a relative 50 years ago. If I had continued with treatment I wouldn't be here today, I haven't been able to see a doctor since I left chemo.

The NHS needs a thorough shake up to return it to what it once was - the envy of the world.

I agree that the situation now is different from that in 1948, but governments have had 75 years to get to grips with that, and adapt either the funding or the model. It hasn't crept up on us.

I also agree that there are people who expect to see doctors for things that could be dealt with at home, but patients don't aways know the difference between self-limiting conditions and ones that will turn dangerous if left untreated. that's why we need doctors.

We do need to pay more in taxes. I would be much happier to do that (particularly if it could be ring-fenced) than to have means-tested charges for appointments or prescriptions. Perhaps a card scheme could be introduced so that everyone is credited with payments out of tax (or NI or whatever a new ring-fenced charge is called - possibly something new), or as part of pension or benefits (with free credits for children), and you show it when you need an appointment or prescription.

As now, there would be no limit on the cost of treatment, but the card system could register things like missed appointments, and a fine could be applied. It might also cut down on tax fraud, as people working in the 'black economy' wouldn't get the credits that gave them access to treatment, although that would bring problems for people whose employers insist on cash in hand payments. It could open up discussions on things like that though - maybe pub landlords and people employing cleaners should be compelled to pay the 'stamp' of those working for them? Many people live outside of the 'system', which works against them when it comes to things like sick pay and other rights, but they still cost money when they need to be treated.

I think there should be an open debate about what could be done, with nothing off the table, but that the basic principle that essential treatment is free at the point of use should remain. We will maybe need to reconsider what is 'essential' and what is life enhancing, which will mean difficult conversations about things like IVF and cosmetic procedures.

Can't thank the NHS enough for all it's done for myself and DH. Hate is a rather harsh word but I do dislike the facts as pointed out by Kate1949. Will nobody get to grips with radical reform?

When the NHS was founded in 1948 it was totally of its time. However, times have changed and more and more demands are made of it. It's like anything, something can be diluted only so many times. I feel it needs a good audit to cut away the stacking of managers/unnecessary waste/and unnecessary appointments where some people go because it is free and they have a little problem that could possibly be dealt with at walk in centres. Not sure about the American system though. My US friend seems to be obsessed with all her pills and potions and specialists from her foot to her allergies and it seems very expensive. There doesn't seem to be much care in the US for those who can't afford private care. However, having to pay will lead to specialist hospitals for specific areas of research and specialists in that area.

Underfunding is a relative term. Run as it is at the moment the NHS is a bottomless pit for money. But I remain doubtful whether the current NHS can possibly be run well or efficiently.

It has a superb emergency service, I do not just mean A&E, I mean response to critical care, but on all routine matters, it leaves a lot to be desired. I do not know the answer, but I do think that a full review of how we run, and how other countries run - and fund (no, I do not mean any kind of privitisation) their health systems could lead to root and branch changes that would benefit all of us, staff and patients.

I think we should be able to be realistic about the NHS. I personally have had good and not so good experiences, successful operations and one which left me worse than before. But the NHS is underfunded and the staff work under very difficult conditions at times. I shall continue to take them as I find them.

Kim19

I was told recently that in USA health insurance is not available to over 80 year olds. Cannot believe this is true. Anyone know, please?

Once someone reaches state retirement age in the US, they are eligible for Medicare, which is a public insurance scheme. It’s divided into several Parts for different services, and each comes with costs, co-pays and deductibles (what we would call excess). Parts A and B, which are the core elements, have no upper age limit.

You can see details and costs of Medicare here www.medicare.gov/basics/costs/medicare-costs

Medicare Advantage and Medigap are basically private insurance designed to cover some of the costs associated with Medicare, and, as far as I know, provided you meet the conditions - paying for Part A and B Medicare, paying the private policy premiums, enrolling within a set period (6 months maybe) of registering for Medicare - there is no upper age limit for these policies either.

M0nica

Glorianny Even if paid health care doesn't deal with long term conditions, it will pay for you to be seen promptly when a condition starts, pay for all the preliminary tests and get you started on treatment, so there is much to gain.

I am not thereby advocating paying for medical care or the NHS charging. But having been at the receiving end of the NHS a number of times over the past year and still waiting the doctors decision on a scan taken 6 months ago. I can see why so many people now do it

My sister in Germany, having problems with her eyes, cataracts. Within 3 weeks had first eye operated on, 6 weeks later the other. She is able to ring consultants sec to arrange surgery, and is given dates, how I wish. She has had more surgery in last year, they won't even x Ray my knee.

grannypiper

I certainly don't hate the NHS but i do despise the waste of so much money. Too many managers, paying too much for items and services because a manager somewhere was taken out to lunch and given a brown envelope. I think it is deplorable that a P.A to a consultant is paid more than a nurse ( Why does a consultant need a PA)
No, i don't hate them but the organisation is in a mess.

I’ve never known a consultant to have a PA, they have a medical secretary. They are paid at Band 4, work Monday-Friday, whereas nurses start at Band 5 and work unsocial hours. Nurses get paid considerably more.

Glorianny Even if paid health care doesn't deal with long term conditions, it will pay for you to be seen promptly when a condition starts, pay for all the preliminary tests and get you started on treatment, so there is much to gain.

I am not thereby advocating paying for medical care or the NHS charging. But having been at the receiving end of the NHS a number of times over the past year and still waiting the doctors decision on a scan taken 6 months ago. I can see why so many people now do it