How to solve the NHS funding crisis

caronoel

Stop the free at point of use nonsense.

Charge everyone £10 for each hospital or GP visit. You would soon see demand drop off as few timewasters would want to pay up and funding would increase dramatically overnight

It works in well funded healthcare systems like the Nordics. It could work here

PasturesNew

You then limit it to only wealthier timewasters.... and they then drag out the times, making the Dr run late, as they insist on "getting their money's worth"

Graham_Devon

PasturesNew wrote: »

You then limit it to only wealthier timewasters.... and they then drag out the times, making the Dr run late, as they insist on "getting their money's worth"

For once I agree with caronel!

And you'd find the most wealthy, in general, would be the ones who abhor such a system so much they will do anything to avoid it and everything they can to make everyone suffer because of it.

Never a truer word said that the poorest are the most generous. I find in my line of work that the wealthy people are the hardest to deal with, got time on their hands to sit and write endless complaints. The less wealthy dont have time for it all and seem to understand the issues a little more....simply getting on with it.

Another way to deal with it would simply to make everyone pay for prescriptions - would reduce footfall massively as people will head straight to the chemist instead. We also need to allow chemists a bit more autonomy on what they can sell without seeing a GP. Most of Europe has less restrictive laws on medications.

Red-Squirrel_2

caronoel wrote: »

Stop the free at point of use nonsense.

Charge everyone £10 for each hospital or GP visit. You would soon see demand drop off as few timewasters would want to pay up and funding would increase dramatically overnight

It works in well funded healthcare systems like the Nordics. It could work here

You'd soon see demand drop off when poor people stop going to the doctors until its too late to do anything and they just die, therefore massively reducing their use of resources.

lookstraightahead

I don!!!8217;t believe there are many timewasters visiting doctors - no-one can quantify whether you feel the need to see a doctor except for yourself. I would be happy to pay £10 a visit just to not feel I have a battle making an appointment for myself or my elderly mother in law. It would have to be thought through so that those who cannot afford it don!!!8217;t go without care, but let!!!8217;s face it something has to be done.

lookstraightahead

Why do I have all those exclamation marks in my posts?

borkid

lookstraightahead wrote: »

I don!!!8217;t believe there are many timewasters visiting doctors - no-one can quantify whether you feel the need to see a doctor except for yourself. I would be happy to pay £10 a visit just to not feel I have a battle making an appointment for myself or my elderly mother in law. It would have to be thought through so that those who cannot afford it don!!!8217;t go without care, but let!!!8217;s face it something has to be done.

Maybe those who are eligible for free prescriptions wouldn't pay or those with chronic illnesses, records would already be kept at the surgery.
Alternatively not have to pay to see the practise nurse who could then refer to a doctor with no payment. Those who wish to see a doctor without going through the 'nurse route' would pay.

vivatifosi

There's something happening on MSE at the moment where apostrophes are replaced by exclamation marks and numbers. It doesn't affect everyone, so I wonder if it is one particular browser.

In terms of solving the problem, there should be a cross party group working on this, along with NHS professionals as it will be solved by lots of small wins in different areas rather than a silver bullet.

For example, I heard some commentary this week that if we invested in more district nurses, and they visited the elderly chronically ill in their home once a week in addition to the healthcare assistants, then more of the issues would be picked up on before they necessitated a hospital stay.

I do agree though that there is much work to be done in the area of prescribed medicines... more should be available otc (not antibiotics), more should pay for medicines, perhaps with a reduced rate for both prescriptions and the multi script cards, less prescribing of otc meds, etc.

Thrugelmir

caronoel wrote: »

You would soon see demand drop off as few timewasters would want to pay up and funding would increase dramatically overnight

Down to everybody to use the service responsibly. Not expect instant treatment and be cured at the slightest feeling of being unwell. Such as suffering a cold or running a temperature. Or expecting dietary advice to cure being overweight or suffering dietabetes. When as individuals we control what we eat and how much we exercise.

Self diagnosis on the internet is most unhelpfull too.

Our local hospital suffers from a 20% non attendance rate for appointments. Time is valuable. That resource is lost. Never to be recovered.

Cakeguts

Can we please define poor here? The poor are young single people with a long standing medical condition that stops them from working.

The simple solution would be to have a sliding scale of charges. From something like 50p to £10 depending on underlying medical conditions so that people can stop turning up at the doctor with something like a cold or a cut finger. People turn up in the emergency departments withthings like cut fingers that just need a plaster or headaches that aren't due to an accident. The kind of thing that doesn't need any kind of medical professional just common sense.

Red-Squirrel_2

Cakeguts wrote: »

Can we please define poor here? The poor are young single people with a long standing medical condition that stops them from working.

The simple solution would be to have a sliding scale of charges. From something like 50p to £10 depending on underlying medical conditions so that people can stop turning up at the doctor with something like a cold or a cut finger. People turn up in the emergency departments withthings like cut fingers that just need a plaster or headaches that aren't due to an accident. The kind of thing that doesn't need any kind of medical professional just common sense.

I'd say that 'poor' means anybody for whom £10 (or whatever the charge may be) represents enough money that it might make them delay going to the doctors about, for example, a slightly iffy mole, or worsening depression, or painful sex, or a possible STI, or an infection that probably needs antibiotics but isn't causing them too much bother just at the moment.