NHS - Time to privatise?

[Deleted User]

missbiggles1 wrote: »

As was discussed thoroughly on an earlier thread about cataract operations, many hospitals don't even allow you to have your eye uncovered for at least 24 hours later and it's quite normal to be blurry for a few days. It's very misleading to state that it's normal to have an improvement in vision immediately after the operation.

Another thing. Operation 4pm Thursday. 8am Friday bandage off.
He complained at the time he'd been told it had to be on 24 hours. Nurses excuse "it'll be ok".

9am out the door. Looks to me like getting him out the door was important that day so they even decided to shortcut the agreed medical procedure.

Another reason why I think this particular nurses actions are incorrect.

philatio

Pollycat wrote: »

And what is your suggestion to address this situation?

Carousel ??

funguy

Firstly, my sympathies with the OP. Generally discharge planning from hospitals seem to be very poor as they are so desperate to get people out of hospital beds and then they are not the hospital's problem any more....

They then become the problem of community services - GPs, District Nurses, Macmillan nurses, social work etc etc. However, the problem is that that the community service resources are stretched to breaking point. Primary care (GPs, District Nurses etc) receive about 7.5% of the total NHS funds to deal with 92% of all NHS contacts - and that number is rising.....

The NHS is free at the point of delivery but we need to be realistic about what it can actually cover. Primary care for example is funded about £100-£120 PER YEAR for each patient. So for that money, all services - appointments, house calls, medication administration etc etc needs to be done. If we privatised the NHS as someone above has suggested, just a few appointments would cost this sum. This is why primary care services are stretched beyond all limits.

Social work likewise relies on the availability of trained staff to help support people at home. With reducing budgets, they are cutting experienced trained staff and are recruiting cheaper younger untrained staff to help manage budgets...

nearlyrich

In my experience many elderly people just take the doctor or nurse's word for it and don't like to question "a higher authority" the time to arrange care is before the operation, the responsibility has been removed from the ward to the social workers who are overstretched and if your dad or someone else's mum says it's all fine at home they will breathe a sigh of relief and let them go. My mum had a few operations before she passed away we insisted she went to one of us to stay until she could cook for herself etc. I am not saying what happened to your dad was acceptable but surely he and you must have known that he would be unable to manage blind and should have therefore made plans to help him? In an ideal world the NHS would have enough money to give everyone a perfect experience every time sadly there are too few of us paying tax and NI to make that possible.
Your question of is it time to go private is an interesting one, I have had private cover with my employers schemes over several years ( I pay tax on the benefit) when I finish work I will not be able to afford to pay for Health insurance and I am sure the people who need the NHS most are in a similar position.

bsms1147

Towser wrote: »

Yes privatise it.

The NHS is getting away with doing the bare minimum when I compare how my dog is treated at the vet and they way I have been treated.
The American system is very much like the dog's and the vet. If we had the American system I would have had the choice. I did not here, despite it being in the birth plan and asking for it several times, because it costs money they said no.

Compare the funding of both systems.

The NHS receives 7.3% of the UK's GDP (reducing to 6.7% soon).
America spends 17% of their GDP on healthcare.

Globally, including much less-developed countries, healthcare is an average spend of 10.0 % of GDP.

The veterinary system is much more in line with the American system with regards to relative funding.

The NHS is the best, most efficient system for the money that is put in. You would not receive a better privatised system for your 6.7%, so you are not comparing like with like. If you feel a privatised system is better, which will undoubtedly cost much more money, then imagine how good such an NHS would be if we were willing to fund it to the same degree.

The NHS's funding is being strangled. It is being set up to fail.

stugib

bsms1147 wrote: »

The NHS's funding is being strangled. It is being set up to fail.

This.

Some of the posters on here are the Tories' wet dream, you're falling for it hook, line and sinker. Starve funding, crush morale, get their mates in the right wing press to run lots of front page "NHS killed my xxxxx" stories, then wait for everyone to say "if only it was privatised" before they and their friends get their claws into it. Look at the cause of it in the first place, not the symptoms.

Pollycat

philatio wrote: »

Carousel ??

[Deleted User]

There's plenty of part state funded, part private systems across Europe that are far better than the American model - lets not gravitate to an insurance-led payment system.

Our population is booming - tax revenue *should* rise with that; so why isn't the funding of the NHS rising? Why has the NHS sold off valuable sites/land when it needs to treat more and more people?

It's a long con

[Deleted User]

nearlyrich wrote: »

In my experience many elderly people just take the doctor or nurse's word for it and don't like to question "a higher authority" the time to arrange care is before the operation, the responsibility has been removed from the ward to the social workers who are overstretched and if your dad or someone else's mum says it's all fine at home they will breathe a sigh of relief and let them go. My mum had a few operations before she passed away we insisted she went to one of us to stay until she could cook for herself etc. I am not saying what happened to your dad was acceptable but surely he and you must have known that he would be unable to manage blind and should have therefore made plans to help him? In an ideal world the NHS would have enough money to give everyone a perfect experience every time sadly there are too few of us paying tax and NI to make that possible.
Your question of is it time to go private is an interesting one, I have had private cover with my employers schemes over several years ( I pay tax on the benefit) when I finish work I will not be able to afford to pay for Health insurance and I am sure the people who need the NHS most are in a similar position.

Agree what you about the elderly. Thats my dad - he doesnt want t cause a fuss.

Thats the thing - he was told by the hospital before the op. Stay one night then you'll probably be fine. If not we'll sort something out. But it wasnt fine and they didnt.

So yes we did prepare. Brother and I were lined up over the weekend. But we did not expect a totally blind helpless father because we were told that would not happen.

tomtontom

Perhaps the service would be better if it wasn't being bled to death by staff abusing their generous contractual terms? Remind us how your wife played the system to get paid for three years of no work? Sick, pregnancy, sick again ...

You really should be looking closer to home if you want someone to blame.