The future of our health and our health system.

[DavidGrahamJones]

Concern has been mentioned in several posts over the last year or so about the supply of medication and I think there is plenty of concern over what will happen to the NHS. I would like to draw to everyone's attention the existence of a film available on Youtube for free called;

THE GREAT NHS HEIST

Apologies if this doesn't meet forum standards, I just think this film is compulsory viewing and I want to save our NHS - warts and all, it's much better than the alternative.

 

[carol43]

watching it now and shared to Facebook

 

[NicoleC1971]

I will watch it. I must say that one of the most frustrating things about the current election campaign is the inability of all parties to admit that the NHS cannot recruit enough doctors and nurses nor build enough hospitals, train enough GPs even if there were a magic money tree, to keep up with the demands of an older and sicker population and that's without talking about social care.
I know the system is under invested in compared to the rest of Europe but lets be realistic about what it can deliver even with more cash and put more focus onto improving the food environment that is producing so much preventable disease.
In the meantime people like my husband are opting out of the NHS because he gets private cover through work for the treatment of non acute conditions and we already have a 2 tier system but yet it could get a lot worse if we put 3rd parties in the middle of the patients and the state.

 

[Listlad]

I will watch it. I must say that one of the most frustrating things about the current election campaign is the inability of all parties to admit that the NHS cannot recruit enough doctors and nurses nor build enough hospitals, train enough GPs even if there were a magic money tree, to keep up with the demands of an older and sicker population and that's without talking about social care.
I know the system is under invested in compared to the rest of Europe but lets be realistic about what it can deliver even with more cash and put more focus onto improving the food environment that is producing so much preventable disease.
In the meantime people like my husband are opting out of the NHS because he gets private cover through work for the treatment of non acute conditions and we already have a 2 tier system but yet it could get a lot worse if we put 3rd parties in the middle of the patients and the state.

I used to have private cover for a number of years. Mine didn’t eliminate the need to see my local GP first and foremost.

I used it a few times after referral on each occasion. However since redundancy from that company in 2010 that benefit is no longer paid for by that employer.

 

[lucylocket61]

My son has seen a consultant privately. He needed a referral from his GP. And private healthcare doesn't cover all conditions.

The chances of me or my husband affording private healthcare is nil. We never, due to health issues, even had spare money for a private pension.

We are now carers for our son too. The future, for the three of us is dire.

 

[Diane60]

As previously stated, the NHS is greatly underfunded. The problem is though, that most people think that “someone else” should pay for this. I think that we should all be prepared to pay more to provide the services we require.
After all, if the the NHS is such a great model, why hasn’t any other country copied it for their citizens?
I am truly grateful for all the assistance I have received, but I am aware that it’s in crisis and we need to do something right now!

 

[NicoleC1971]

I used to have private cover for a number of years. Mine didn’t eliminate the need to see my local GP first and foremost.

I used it a few times after referral on each occasion. However since redundancy from that company in 2010 that benefit is no longer paid for by that employer.

I agree that my husband will go in for the GP in order to refer him to a consultant who is probably also running an NHS clinic with a much longer queue.
It means that he is taken out of the NHS queue and taxed on this service as a benefit in kind. The consultant bills for his services and there seems to be an incentive to over treat (see also going to the Vets!).
My worry would be that if demand for private treatment goes up from people who can afford that option or whose companies do not want productive employees off work for too long, then more consultants would spend more time in more pleasant private hospitals thus further squeezing the provision on the NHS side.
I don't think the NHS will go out with a bang but with a whimper.
I therefore feel as if there is more and more onus on me to look after my own health and as a type 1 who has had complications I don't think I could afford private cover premiums though I have paid to have a frozen shoulder treated rather than wait a further month in pain and with sky high blood sugars which was worth £325!

 

[Listlad]

As previously stated, the NHS is greatly underfunded. The problem is though, that most people think that “someone else” should pay for this. I think that we should all be prepared to pay more to provide the services we require.
After all, if the the NHS is such a great model, why hasn’t any other country copied it for their citizens?
I am truly grateful for all the assistance I have received, but I am aware that it’s in crisis and we need to do something right now!

Interestingly the IOM has mimicked it. Theirs is not financed via the UK government but through the Manx Treasury. I did notice a discernible difference between the two but I am not sure if that is reflected in the level of money pumped into the IOM NHS.

@New Haven Neil

 

[bulkbiker]

the NHS is greatly underfunded

Is it.. really? £126 billion is about £4k for every taxpayer in the country.

Sometimes I think we really need to have a big grown up conversation as a nation to assess exactly what we expect the NHS to provide for free. I spent a lot of time in hospitals this year visiting my sick mother and the waste was huge. Every single piece of equipment was used once and thrown away, everything was wrapped in plastic. The food waste was a disgrace - I'd guess that a good 80% was ditched. This goes on every single day.

 

[NicoleC1971]

Is it.. really? £126 billion is about £4k for every taxpayer in the country.

Sometimes I think we really need to have a big grown up conversation as a nation to assess exactly what we expect the NHS to provide for free. I spent a lot of time in hospitals this year visiting my sick mother and the waste was huge. Every single piece of equipment was used once and thrown away, everything was wrapped in plastic. The food waste was a disgrace - I'd guess that a good 80% was ditched. This goes on every single day.

I think that comparitively speaking and compariing it to other state providers or the US (highest spend but 37th in health outomes) it would seem that the NHS is underfunded but it would be impossible to restore that funding yet keep up with the increasing demands placed on it (running to stay still). Doubtless there is waste too e.g. bed blocking due to lack of social care yet it is hard to think of a better way to do it other than perhaps giving a health allowance to all citizens which can be used to pay for doctor visits. Fund cold build up over time so as to incentivise best lifestyle choices and give the consumer real choice so that better doctors who get good results are encouraged. Yes I know this is way too radical for most and wold be an electric rail in the current environment where the NHS is a a sacred thing.....

 

[lucylocket61]

I don't mix in circles where the running and workings of the NHS is held too sacred to criticise or discuss objectively.

However, the concept of a healthcare system available and affordable to all IS held sacred, and quite rightly too, in my opinion.

 

[bulkbiker]

I don't mix in circles where the running and workings of the NHS is held too sacred to criticise or discuss objectively.

I think you do.. we see it every day with the "Our NHS" mantra.. absolutely everywhere

 

[lucylocket61]

I think you do.. we see it every day with the "Our NHS" mantra.. absolutely everywhere

I think you neither know me or my circles.

 

[JohnEGreen]

"
Our ambition should
be to break down the barriers between private and public provision,
in effect denationalising the provision of health care in Britain,"

So wrote Jeremy Hunt .

 

[set-in-stone]

Is it.. really? £126 billion is about £4k for every taxpayer in the country.

Sometimes I think we really need to have a big grown up conversation as a nation to assess exactly what we expect the NHS to provide for free. I spent a lot of time in hospitals this year visiting my sick mother and the waste was huge. Every single piece of equipment was used once and thrown away, everything was wrapped in plastic. The food waste was a disgrace - I'd guess that a good 80% was ditched. This goes on every single day.

The food / waste is a disgrace. I agree. Maybe the cost of sterilising the equipment for re-use is quite high and not worth it?
However, I can see that the children’s hospital we attend are making efforts to cut waste in many areas.
In the past, towels, beddings, etc. were in excess. You could pick up 5 or more of each in one day. No questions asked. I found that so shocking! These days they encourage you to reuse towels.
Thankfully, they still provide tea, coffee and milk in the parents’ ‘kitchen’. Hospital coffee shops are so expensive!

 

[Brunneria]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_total_health_expenditure_per_capita

Cost of healthcare per capita in US dollars, as at 2016
UK is slap bang in the middle of costs, with the US at the high end and Turkey at the low end.

 

[bulkbiker]

Found this rather interesting though Spain spends about 2/3 of UK but has better life expectancy... less medication more longevity?... or maybe they just hate statins...

 

[Deleted member 308541]

Sometimes I think we really need to have a big grown up conversation as a nation to assess exactly what we expect the NHS to provide for free. I spent a lot of time in hospitals this year visiting my sick mother and the waste was huge. Every single piece of equipment was used once and thrown away, everything was wrapped in plastic. The food waste was a disgrace - I'd guess that a good 80% was ditched. This goes on every single day.

I was a out patient at the local public hospital's wound dressing clinic for around four months.

I collected all of the scissors and tweezers that the staff used either picking up a dressing or cutting a length of tubular stocking on me and brought them home. I asked about the wastage and they told me it was more cost effective to throw them out than it was to clean and sterilise them for reuse.

They all found good homes when I shared them with my fishing mates.

 

[bulkbiker]

I was a out patient at the local public hospital's wound dressing clinic for around four months.

I collected all of the scissors and tweezers that the staff used either picking up a dressing or cutting a length of tubular stocking on me and brought them home. I asked about the wastage and they told me it was more cost effective to throw them out than it was to clean and sterilise them for reuse.

They all found good homes when I shared them with my fishing mates.

Completely mad isn't it..

 

[Deleted member 308541]

Completely mad isn't it..

I tried my hardest to get a pair of those long handled scissors / shears that they had there, the only chance I had of getting a pair was when the Doctor that was treating me at the clinic dumped them in the bin unused after doing a biopsy on my leg and missed out.

About the food wastage I was told that this in case of cross infections, even the sealed packets of biscuits went.