Jump to content

NHS - bankrupt in 5 years ?


Recommended Posts

According to some MPs, the NHS is on it's last legs and may only last another 5 years. Whilst this Gov promised to ring fence funding, yet has apparently been engaged in piecemeal privatisation - are we seeing the demise of a national health service, free at the point of need?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Certainly hope your right Latch, for the sake of the country - but we've allowed successive Governments to tinker with it and use it as a political football for decades now. We've also allowed it to be used and abused by time wasters, drunks and health tourists from overseas.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think a lot of problems at the bottom are because people don't self diagnose the same these days & pick something up from the chemist ,they seem to think a doctor's visit is necessary. Luckily colds are now a thing of the past as everybody has flu these days !

 

I see Whiston hospital is adorned in scaffolding again.....looks like the recently revamped building is having another makeover of sorts.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Think a lot of the problem with self diagnosis is to do with the internet.

 

Got a red mark on my arm. according to the internet it could be a nasty bug bite that can turn septic and mean having my arm off, or it could be the begginings of a skin cancer. oh no wait it's red ink from the marker pen I was using earlier. silly me doctor.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Think a lot of the problem with self diagnosis is to do with the internet.

 

Got a red mark on my arm. according to the internet it could be a nasty bug bite that can turn septic and mean having my arm off, or it could be the begginings of a skin cancer. oh no wait it's red ink from the marker pen I was using earlier. silly me doctor.

 

Dr Google has a lot to answer for..

 

A whole new generation of Hypocondriacs........

ask any GP  :blink:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Certainly one class of time-wasters, the other is the Saturday night drunks, perhaps a padded police cell would save time and money in A&E.  But the big rip off, is no doubt the health tourist, who can enter the UK without any serious checks, enter an NHS facility, without any serious challenges and get free treatment; thus making it the "International" Health Service truly free at the point of use.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The main thing that needs to change is the attitude of many of those working within the NHS itself.

 

Just because we're not paying at the point of use does not mean we're not paying customers and deserve treating as such - many frontline NHS staff seem to forget this and adopt a "stop complaining, you're getting it free" attitude. Couple this with a monolithic backroom bureaucracy which adds no value whatsoever and seems to exist solely to justify its own existence and you have waste and inefficiency which would bankrupt any business in far less than five years!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not sure that necessarily cures the financial problem though, Geoff?  Politicians need, for once, to keep out of it - unlike Labour's distasterous deal with GPs (less hours for more pay) or the Tory privatisations by stealth and competition fiction. To a point Ink your right, but the system is being ripped off at the senior admin management level with inflated salaries and golden goodbye packages. The bottom line however, is just exactly do we want of our NHS and depending on the answer, are we prepared to pay the cost. Let's not forget, we're due an age related illness epidemic as folk are living longer - with more bed blocking etc..

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

There will come a time in the not too distant future that whatever government is in power, will have to make a decision to privatise sections of the NHS.... it is naĂ¯ve to think that funding can continue to be taken from general taxation to cover the costs entirely...

 

what many forget is that it isn't just the patient care stuff that needs funding.... with over 1.4million employees, every pay rise of only a pound or even pence an hour adds countless millions to the costs plus there are the ever increasing drug costs and with people now living longer than at any previous time in history, it will need an infinite amount of money that the country cannot afford through tax alone.... or at least not without massive tax rises to pay for it all...

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had friends who have lived in Indiana for about 10 years. They have decided to move back to England where my friend has a new job. His wife has stayed in the States in order to sell the house. Unfortunately she became ill and because her husband had quit his job was no longer covered by his health insurance. An appointment with her doctor cost $55, a prescription cost her $300. She can't wait to get back home. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dave, within the EU and some other countries, we supposed to have reciprocal arrangements (hence the E111 card); so treatment can be claimed off the user nation. However, whether this is strictly policed is open to question; worse - the majority of health tourism arrives from non-reciprocating countries like Nigeria, where a regular shuttle arrives at some London Hospitals.  They supposed to employ investigators to check patients nationality and liability to pay - again, whether they pay is open to question; it would seem reasonable to expect cash in advance.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The NHS should at least refuse vanity based plastic surgery. 

 

I should imagine the UK'S ability to make health tourists pay privately would be as effective as the Border Agency's attempts to refuse entry to/deport undesirables.

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

because health is a vocation, you will find it very hard to find a doctor or nurse who would refuse to treat someone in the UK based on the fact they couldn't pay for their treatment

 

In the US, health is a business like any other business and their workers seem to be more geared towards making sure that someone can pay for the treatment before anything is done.

 

maybe we should employ some of the Americans to be the front line between health tourists and the doctors!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Until our Govs start to take entry into the UK seriously; and start to ensure all entrants are checked in, with a computerised data base of all entrants; we'll never get to grips with the rest of the scams they get up to, while they're here. If they did get a grip, a requirement for entry would be the possession of health insurance cover.

  • Downvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

NHS is mismanaged by people who have sneaked up the career and friend structure.

Start charging all those not entitled to the service. this means doing as the States and having a finance office checking every patient and getting money before treatment where necessary.

 

If some person is hurt  cet la vie.

 

There is a need to have regional stockholding and cut out the peculiar way medical goods are purchased and the top jobs should be given to a business manager not a soft touch or a person who only cares about himself as has just happened.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Some, if not all Hospitals already have someone responsible for assessing eligibility;  unfortunately it doesn't appear to be done with sufficient zeal. So the latest Gov edict of charging 150% of the cost will flounder if the minions don't enforce it with rigour.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...