NHS funding discussion World at One

[dbr10]

The World This Weekend - 14/01/2018 - @bbcradio4 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09lw2y1

 

[Grant_Vicat]

The World This Weekend - 14/01/2018 - @bbcradio4 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09lw2y1

Three main points occur to me. listening to this: 1) In Ireland they pay 100 euros if they are not referred to A& E but refer themselves. Here is my experience of why this would be unacceptable in certain situations:
One evening, in my first year at King’s, I was sitting at my desk, amazingly doing some work, when I was suddenly unable to see out of my right eye. It was as if a bottle of drawing ink had been poured into the eyeball. Various ideas flooded into my imagination, almost as rapidly as the real substance into my sight. Blind panic took control. I ran down Champion Hill and across Denmark Hill, straight into the Hospital, I would guess in under sixty seconds. Arriving at Accident and Emergency, I was greeted by the ubiquitous unsympathetic gaze of a receptionist:


“What’s your problem?”

“I can’t see out of my right eye.”

“Who sent you here?”

“I did.”

“Did you contact your GP?”

“Listen, I’m an outpatient here and I’m diabetic” (magic words).

“Oh, I see, do you know your Hospital Number by any chance?”

“Yes, A153034.”

“Fantastic. Ah, Mr Vicat. I see from your notes that retinopathy has been noted. I’ll get someone to attend to you.”
A doctor duly appeared and informed me that I had had a haemorrhage and that nothing could be done until it had cleared enough to see what damage had occurred. I was put under the care of Mr E.W.G. Davies, a short, wire-rimmed-bepectacled man with whispy grey hair, twinkly beaming eyes and an everlasting supply of Fox’s Glacier Mints stuffed into his white coat. I found this ironic, seeing that the majority of his patients were diabetic! During one of his consultations in my second year he asked me about my life. I told him that I was living in Kensal Rise; that I cycled into King’s College in the Strand every day; that I played squash; and that I drank moderately (I’m sure he didn’t fall for this). His response was that I should stop burn-ups on the Edgeware Road, that I should avoid squash, moderate my alcohol intake, and that I should shun aerobic exercise or anything that would make me red in the face. If I did not heed his words, I would be blind by the time I reached twenty-three.
“Thank you” I said. “Do you realise that in one sentence you have ruled out all the finer points of living?”

That was in 1978 in London. Like most students I was not well off, there was no doctor, and I think my initial experience easily justified going to A & E. 2) I have always disagreed with privatising the NHS as the majority of patients would be "left in the gutter" and as a result mental illness would increase dramatically. 3) I am far from happy that HM Government has switched public criticism of their handling of health service provision for all constituents to blaming NHS flagships such as King's College Hospital and Addenbrooke's for failing to reach targets. If funds are taken away, how are such targets to be met? DUH!