The Garden Fence - help and support in tough times

robotrobo

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

I think our NHS can still manage re emergencies as far as I can see. I think what it struggles with is minor problems that impact noticeably and will continue to do so for evermore if not treated.

I was only recalling this morning re when I had two ingrown toenails quite some years ago. Okay it sounds minor - but they HAD to be dealt with or I would have spent the rest of my life literally unable to walk very far at all (because it was too painful to do so). Knowing that there was no option but for the NHS to treat it - they couldn't possibly expect someone to live with that (so painful and so easy to put right) - then I expected them to do so. I'd been told it would be £200 (back then!) to pay a chiropodist to do so and I didn't have that sort of money.



So I duly filled in whatever-form-it-was and went in for my appointment at the clinic and duly got thrown straight out again the second they realised I wasn't either pregnant or a pensioner. They told me I wasn't eligible for NHS treatment. I explained it HAD to be done and asked them just how they thought it could be done - and they couldn't care less.


Basically, I had to go in for a bit of "deviousness" to get it done and did manage to get the NHS to do it eventually...but I was shocked at having to do so, as they had just expected me to shut up and put up with the pain and life disruption for over 20 years (ie until I got to pensioner age - and they couldn't have refused me treatment any longer).

Glad your toes are better , but this is why we are going bust with the NHS , everyone thinks that every little job has to be done on the NHS, even them with money to spend, PS, I have been & had my big toe done this week at the chiropodist , two visits to eventually correct the problem , but only cost £20 so not complaining.
The NHS did save my life when I was hit with a car while out cycling & it was doing over 60 mph when it run be down & left me for dead , then you realise what the health care is really for , I would gladly pay more for the care , why don't the goverment not ask people to pay a little more.

moneyistooshorttomention

I understand the point made and could have managed £20 (if I had to) - but £200 is still a noticeable amount of money nowadays (never mind over 20 years ago) and a poorly-paid single person cant just cough up that sort of money readily to pay for something like that. I had high accommodation costs in relation to my salary and was struggling anyway. I could have charged the NHS the costs of dealing with a couple of pregnancies/births and no-one would have questioned that - but I didn't - and that would have cost them one heck of a sight more.

I have never had very much at all from the NHS (either before or since that episode) and will normally head straight towards my own alternative remedies for anything that goes wrong - rather than approaching the NHS anyway. So I still think they are "quids in" on how much I've paid (in the course of my NI stamp/other taxes) compared to the little I've ever claimed from them.

My feet HAD to be done. I simply didn't have the money. I had visions of being expected to "put up with this" for over 30 years. I had absolutely no idea when I would ever be able to find the money to cover the bill for them.

***********

Re the NHS, I do have an even more acute suspicion that mismanagement of what money is available/management having too many layers etc is wasting some of the NHS' available money. Having spent the last few weeks "dismantling" the management of a local voluntary organisation and realising that much of it does look like it was devised to ensure a particular person was seen as indispensable, I've certainly had an object lesson in deliberate "job creation for management" at close hand. Its now been so rationalised that an average intelligent 11 year old could understand/do it. Yep..I'm not indispensable either LOL....

ivyleaf

I had to pay £310 to have the ingrown edges of a toenail removed last year. I couldn't have it done through the NHS because i didn't actually have "large abscesses preventing walking". It would make no difference how old I was.

If I lived a few miles down the road I could have referred myself to have it done through the NHS, but there would have been a very long wait for an appointment.

moneyistooshorttomention

Crikey Ivyleaf - and my point precisely - so two of them (which is what I had) would have cost you £620! £310 is not affordable to quite a few people and I certainly don't see, for instance, how an unemployed person could manage it. That is just so short-sighted an attitude on the part of the NHS - as, if someone cant walk/wont walk because of the pain then they aren't getting any exercise/are more likely to live on processed food (so they can do the minimum of shopping)/etc and the rest of their health is likely to deteriorate.

Don't know what agegroup you're in? Presuming you're saying that, even if State Pension Age you wouldn't have qualified?

I'd be willing to bet that "preventing walking" would have been interpreted as something very mean like "cant even walk to the corner shop", literally only possible to walk around the house.

My toenails were such that I could walk to the corner shop and managed (with pain) to literally walk to work (as it was SO close to my home) but it was painful to do that walk to/from work and I simply wasn't doing any other walking if I could help it and there was definitely no chance I would have even contemplated "going for a walk" or doing any dancing/exercise.

FairyPrincessk

Morning all,

Disturbed sleep last night and woke up with a headache. However, a bit of toast with lemon curd has cheered me up.

I also woke up to my exam date, so I'm feeling rather nervy this morning. I have just over a month between now and then. A few more practice questions for work this morning, and a bit of reading and then I think this afternoon's project is a tidy round. Saturday we're tidying the front of the house and I'm doing the windows and then the landlord is coming by Sunday to discuss a new lease. The cupboard is much better organized and I've gotten rid of a fair amount of stuff which will have to be taken to the CS. I did manage to get the four folding chairs, the cat carrier and some of the litter in, but no luck on the vac and ironing board. However there are three boxes near the front which OH will hopefully be able to consolidate over summer hols and then I may finally get my wish. There are two boxes in there taking up a lot of space which are mostly empty but I feel I need to keep them. One is for the mixer and one for the sewing machine. When we next move I think both will be best packed away into their original boxes.


I'm sorry to hear about the frustrations on the NHS, and I certainly agree that if something is affecting your quality of life it should be covered. I did go private for something a few years ago which cost me a fair amount of money simply because the wait was going to be problematic. However, I'm also aware that if I'd still been on my private insurance in the US it wouldn't have been covered and because of that terribly inefficient system the treatment would have cost so much I couldn't afford it. In spite of these shortcomings I do think that overall it is a marvelous scheme and I'd gladly give up more of my pay for it, particularly if it meant the coverage could be extended and waits made shorter. I'd have to make a lot of money at the current rate of deductions for them to equal what I paid for bare bones private health care as a healthy twenty-something in the US. My care there wasn't any better, at times inferior and cost me a lot out of pocket even with insurance. I understand the new ACA also has some severe limitations.

camelot1001

My DD has returned from South Africa, she talked non-stop last night about her adventures and their way of life, didn't realise they still had so many problems over there but she didn't see any of that and the people she was with kept her safe and sound. She has gone off to work this morning having found a pair of socks as she is cold!

My friend from Oz has gone off down south to her Dads this morning, don't know how many years it will be till I see her again but having spent some time with her in Oz and then Thailand last year I feel this visit was a bonus. Isn't it lovely when you don't see someone regularly but you can just pick up where you left off?

Mrs LW we went for a walk yesterday and saw so many signs of the season to come, we are somewhat later than you but some of the trees are beginning to blossom and there is new growth everywhere.

My little seeds are doing quite well considering I haven't got a clue what I'm doing! I've covered the potatoes with some more compost this morning as they are shooting up and will get the grass cut this afternoon when it has dried, there was a bit of a frost again this morning.

I haven't had too many dealings with the NHS myself but what I have had has been good and I really couldn't fault them when my DH was trying to beat the dreaded cancer.

Hope you are all enjoying the sunshine if you have it, it's mainly sunny here but there's still a cold wind.

manchestermargo

How do people manage to get tattoos removed etc yet someone can't have ingrowing toe nails treated, doesn't make sense to me.


Hope everyone has a lovely weekend.


Managed to trip and fall crossing the road earlier today, really shook me up. Very sore knee and chipped tooth. Could have been worse!





MM

moneyistooshorttomention

I must admit that my definition of what the NHS should fund is any health problem and only "personal" things that would bother ANYONE who had that particular body (that rules out tattoo removal/breast enhancement/struggles to get pregnant - ie because a lot of people in that particular body wouldn't be concerned about that).

I would accept breast reduction (for women who have massive boobs on a normal frame) - as anyone would find them painful. I would accept removal of huge folds of skin left over after dieting down from grossly obese to normal size (that stretches things a bit - as their original larger size would be down to personal choice in the main). Varicose veins would be funded (as most people would expect not to have them).

But if the majority of people wouldn't be bothered about whatever aspect of the body it was (because it was of a cosmetic/lifestyle nature) - then it wouldn't be funded.

Floss

FairyPrincessk wrote: »

Morning all,

Disturbed sleep last night and woke up with a headache. However, a bit of toast with lemon curd has cheered me up.

I also woke up to my exam date, so I'm feeling rather nervy this morning. I have just over a month between now and then. A few more practice questions for work this morning, and a bit of reading and then I think this afternoon's project is a tidy round. Saturday we're tidying the front of the house and I'm doing the windows and then the landlord is coming by Sunday to discuss a new lease. The cupboard is much better organized and I've gotten rid of a fair amount of stuff which will have to be taken to the CS. I did manage to get the four folding chairs, the cat carrier and some of the litter in, but no luck on the vac and ironing board. However there are three boxes near the front which OH will hopefully be able to consolidate over summer hols and then I may finally get my wish. There are two boxes in there taking up a lot of space which are mostly empty but I feel I need to keep them. One is for the mixer and one for the sewing machine. When we next move I think both will be best packed away into their original boxes.

FPK could you put one box inside the other, or flatten them by undoing the tape?

nursemaggie

Removal of tattoos is not covered by NHS but a life threatening infection following having tattoos is. Theoretically the tattoo artist should pay the medical bill but if this happens the person has usually been to an unregistered tattooist who cannot be contacted.

Varicose veins can lead to other serious conditions that are life threatening it is not a cosmetic thing. I think maybe the word should will rather than can.

It was my point that we should have a specific tax or monthly payment everyone but the very lowest paid should pay. This is the system in many other countries e.g. Japan I think it may be the system in Canada too. Wondercollie will be able to tell us.

I agree over IVF treatment because if you cannot afford to pay for the treatment you cannot afford to keep a child. Each child you have will cost you a great deal of money.

I have to admit that I have had a great deal of treatment from the NHS. I do not count myself as lucky but rather unlucky as I would rather not have had all the illnesses I have had nor the 7 pregnancies to have three children. I have not earned enough in my lifetime to pay for all the treatment I have had.

That is just the way it works out. You spread the cost among all who are able as many will never need it. Just like any insurance.