Private Health care

saverbuyer

I must look into this. Thanks for the heads up OP and everyone else.

My BUPA is considerably more.

steveymp

Still can't get my head a round this 'Private Health Care' ?

Surely as citizens of our wee country we are entitled to the NHS free of charge ?

Or have I opened a can of worms here

Belair

NHS health care is free, however the waiting times for some consultations and surgery can be quite long.

In my case, it would have taken months to see a consultant. Then a further wait for surgery. Turned out I had pre cancerous cells. That is pretty scary when it happens to you.

IF, the NHS waiting times are long, then Bendenden will cover the cost of private health care.

Bendenden gave me the go ahead and I saw a consultant within two days. The operation was done on NHS as the waiting time wasn't that long.

My last operation was paid for by Benenden as the NHS times were horrendous.

Private health care gave me and my husband peace of mind.

dizzie

steveymp wrote: »

Still can't get my head a round this 'Private Health Care' ?

Surely as citizens of our wee country we are entitled to the NHS free of charge ?

Or have I opened a can of worms here

I agree that in an ideal world, the NHS would be all anyone needed. But realistically, we'd have to pay much higher taxes to achieve this. The NHS is great for life-threatening conditions, but sometimes not so great for medical problems which aren't life threatening but reduce our quality of life.

I'll use two common conditions as an example:

(i) Back pain (possibly with sciatica). This can be completely debilitating and affect your quality of life....but it doesn't kill you.

When you visit your GP with this condition, it's probable that you'll be given some painkillers. If this is not working for you, after a few weeks the GP may decide to refer for physio. There might be a waiting list for this. Sadly, physiotherapy is terribly under-resourced in the NHS and more and more NHS physios are forced to adopt a "Hands-off" approach and to resort instead to group classes or exercise sheet hand-outs to cope with demand.
If this doesn't work, perhaps you need an MRI scan....which may involve another waiting list.....and when the results of that come through, you may need to sit in yet another waiting list if you need a spinal injection or surgery. In summary, this whole process can take months and months. And in the meantime, if you are crippled with pain and can't do your normal job, there might be financial implications if you are having to try to survive on statutory sick pay. It could be even worse for a self employed person!

And what about Knee Osteoarthritis
Again, this might follow a similar pattern - pills, physio, an x-ray and perhaps steroid injections....although most doctors wouldn't recommend regular steroid injections as long term management. There are strict criteria which often means that NHS surgeons will only operate when the joint is severely damaged and you even have pain on rest at night. They used to offer viscosupplement injections on the NHS, but these have now been stopped in many areas due to their high cost. Viscosupplement injections work very well and are suitable for long term treatment, but to the best of my knowledge, they are only available privately now.

I think the NHS generally does the best with its limited resources, but this is why people sometimes opt to go private. Some people take out private health insurance, and others just save in their own "rainy day" fund and self-pay if they want to go private.

bingo_bango

When you get a chance, have a read around the internet for details on what the proposed EU/US free trade treaty is going to mean for your free healthcare.

I would suggest hat if you feel any aches, pains or wee niggles, now would be the time to make the most of the NHS. Before you are forced to pay for it!