Bad news re what I spend

zagfles

justme111 wrote: »

Assessed by whom? Compared to what ? What other developed country has state funded health system- or was it compared to countries like China or Ukraine? ( no offense to those , I am sure some aspects of their healthcare are better than ours). What were the criteria used ?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-40608253

justme111

Well if you actually read what is written in that article it is far from good. It ranks first on affordability and efficiency while UK was rated behind other developed nations on what matters most - outcomes and survival - one of possible interpretations would be that it is the same bad no matter whether one is rich or poor which is hardly a trait to celebrate.
I am not saying NHS is bad , I am saying relying on it is not intelligent and it is likely to result in far poorer outcomes than could have been achieved.

lisyloo

justme111 wrote: »

sometimes I wonder what does it cover
.

As stated useful for not having long waits for painful or inconvenient conditions,
Could also be life changing.
My mum has an aggressive mengioma (non cancerous tumour on the brain).
There were some short delays but enough to mean her cerebral cortex is damaged (for movement) and she cannot control part of her leg.
She can mostly manage ok with a stick but needs help to put on a leg brace so will always need assistnce before getting out of bed.
When her husband was in hospital she had to get help every morning. This wasn’t available privately until 11 !! So she’d have to stay in bed until then.
In the end she managed to find a volunteer, but this is life changing and a quicker operation might have seen this avoided.

This was delays of weeks not months but enough to be life changing.

If health care is important to you (I understand that) and you have concerns about insurance (get that too) then why not build up your own fund?
The benefits are you’re not paying any profits or costs and you can decide when you want to use it.
There may be situations where you have to fallback on the NHS but I really don’t see any alternative in elderly age and in many ways it may be preferable.

Personally I don’t have a separate pot for this, just general savings, but if it’s important then perhaps a separate pot is best.

lisyloo

hugheskevi wrote: »

My experience of GP services under the NHS has been very poor. As a 41 year old male in good health, I fortunately have very little contact with the NHS, but I would be extremely concerned if I was reliant upon them to treat or manage a condition. A+E has been pretty good, but GP services are a shambles.
.

My Gp is pretty good.
They do telephone aappointments and Saturdays.

Have you thought about changing GPs?

I don’t agree with your assumption that you can control your health.
Sure it’s good to do exercise, eat the right foods and we should all be doing that, however healthy people do just get cancer and sometimes it’s not a result of behaviour.

I am hypothyroid and it’s hereditary. I have done nothing lifestyle wise it’s just in my genes/DNA.

I would suggest you lconsider changing GPS as some are much better.
You are likely to need them more in your 60s.

fred246

So without the NHS you would be a cretin Lissyloo?

zagfles

lisyloo wrote: »

If health care is important to you (I understand that) and you have concerns about insurance (get that too) then why not build up your own fund?
The benefits are you’re not paying any profits or costs and you can decide when you want to use it.
There may be situations where you have to fallback on the NHS but I really don’t see any alternative in elderly age and in many ways it may be preferable.

Personally I don’t have a separate pot for this, just general savings, but if it’s important then perhaps a separate pot is best.

Yes, or just divert your spending, for instance we intend to go on holiday a lot in retirement, if one of use were ill we probably wouldn't so that money could be used for private treatment instead if necessary.

But as you say you can pick and choose, if NHS waits are long etc you can decide to go private, if not you can use the NHS. Trouble with insurance is people use it, as it's already paid for, whether they need to or not, ie even where NHS would be as good, and hence the prices reflect that.

cfw1994

fred246 wrote: »

So without the NHS you would be a cretin Lissyloo?

What an utterly bizarre comment to make.

fred246

You're right. Probably not congenital. Wondered how many would understand.

Terron

zagfles wrote: »

Trouble with insurance is people use it, as it's already paid for, whether they need to or not, ie even where NHS would be as good, and hence the prices reflect that.

I had insurance through work from 1989 to 2013, and continued it afterwards as I was make an offer that covered existing conditions (though I cut down the coverage). Before then I had private insurance that my father helped me get. My father was a GP and my mother a former nurse.



I have seen problems with the NHS - the ward where my mother spent her final illness before coming home was not well managed. Personally each department seems to work well, but communication between them has been poor.

zagfles

Terron wrote: »

I had insurance through work from 1989 to 2013, and continued it afterwards as I was make an offer that covered existing conditions (though I cut down the coverage).

Interesting - might be worthwhile looking into. Was the offer is based on pre-exsiting conditions, or was it a blanket disregard that would cover everyone no matter what their pre-existing conditions were?

I have seen problems with the NHS - the ward where my mother spent her final illness before coming home was not well managed. Personally each department seems to work well, but communication between them has been poor.

This happens in the private sector as well - when my colleague had breast cancer all the research she did showed you generally get better co-ordination in the NHS than going private where you need to arrange everything yourself.