To want to work for cash to pay for treatment

The NHS provides a basic level of service. It does not necessarily provide exactly the service that you feel you want or need. What you describe ie long term therapy with a specific therapist and similarly long term specific physio is a luxury that needs to be paid for privately. You admit that NHS therapy and physio are available you just feel they aren’t good enough for you so it’s a choice you are making to pay for a service that you feel is better.

You say the therapy works for you and ‘not for everyone.’ There is a lot of ‘therapy’ that frankly has no evidence base like NLP. The NHS cannot and should not pay for just anything that anyone fancies. Should homeopathy and aromatherapy be on the NHS? Chinese traditional medicine? Ayurvedic medicine? Lots of people think those are great and are helping them.

People need to understand that the NHS and the benefit system provide a basic safety net not everything that anyone ever felt they wanted.

Private health insurance is tax deductible in many countries.

Some countries do this kind of thing. Quite a few offer tax rebates if you send your children to private school. I think Germany does it and possibly spain. In this country that isn't going to happen because we need the as much tax money as we can get to pay for things like UC and the NHS.

Increase your hours and work all hours, then you will afford treatment. The benefits bill is one of the things crippling this country. You are allowing others to work hard, to help fund you, when you are capable of funding yourself.

Thing is everyone who works full time needs to work a second job or a side hustle for extra things they can't afford if they want those things. I know I would and do sometimes as I don't have an NHS dentist, have to pay for private podiatry. My student loan repayment goes up if I work more as does the amount of tax I pay. How are you different OP?

You obviously ARE keeping yourself in a low income in order to claim. You said increasing your hours isn't an option because your UC would reduce and you’d have to pay towards your student loan. You have enough time spare to take on a “side hustle”, but not to actually work and pay taxes because you see that as unfair.

Why did you bother going to the expense of getting a degree if your attitude is that other people should not only pay for all of it, but that you want to keep your wages so low that you also claim benefits to top up? And you wonder why the NHS can’t fund your specific treatments?? FGS.

Putting aside the health treatment aspect, I would do the side hustle just to clear my student loan while I can… one less thing to worry about down the track when you do have less options and capability.

Very fortunately I came into some money so didn't have your financial dilemma but was in exactly the same situation. Needed therapy and physio and found the NHS services were not there so used my windfall. It sucks for us and I know a lot of NHS staff are really unhappy about the very time limited and generic services they are now forced to offer, which really don't meet people's needs. I used to feel guilty about going privately but now feel it would be mad not to if it's affordable. I feel very angry on behalf of all the people who just can't afford to access the help they need.

Well, I will probably be slated for it but, yes, I think a cash in hand job to pay for health care is ok. Just don't get caught! It's not like you're embezzling funds for a crystal salt and pepper set and a luxury motor home, is it?

I don't think either of those things you want to self fund are meant to be used long term . Physio can be done at home , usually you get a few sessions then exercises at home . A councillor once told me that if councilling hasn't worked after a course it's unlikely to .

I totally get what you're saying. The NHS can't help my child and I've had to go private for assessments, testing and more. About 700 a month to include supplements.

Yes, there should be an option for such instances. In practice, however, it wouldn't work. We can barely keep up with our complicated systems and I think they need to be simplified across every system including tax, health. etc.

I wish it was all easier...and accessible

I spoke to a therapist through the job centre once, was free as was on UC, they could only provide a certain amount of sessions but the lady I had my weekly sessions with over the phone said you can quite often get cheaper sessions through trainee therapists, although how helpful that would be for you I dont know if it's quite complex?

is there a charity that could offer the counselling? Nhs were useless for me but a the did signpost for charities that specialise in the area I was looking at. Your doctor may be able to refer to a gym and from there get a private trainer with some options that you can repeat often in the gym.

Are you saying you claim UC and can still afford to pay £300-400 a month for private health care?

If you’re claiming UC you’re probably taking out more than you put in already. A relatively small proportion of people are net payers. Why do you think you should be able to take out the tax related to the NHS? It’s like someone claiming back insurance premiums because they didn’t claim on their insurance.

Unfortunately private counselling and physiotherapy are luxuries. NHS counselling and physio are under extreme pressure. People are waiting up to two years for hip replacements when they can hardly walk.

Like everyone else you have to try and manage things yourself or save up for private treatment. I also try and limit how much I use the NHS by working things out myself if possible. There are lots of physios and counsellors on YouTube that tell you how to manage specific issues if you already have a diagnosis. You could for instance have physio once a month and counselling twice a month which would reduce the cost.

So what would happen if you then needed urgent expensive treatment that you can only access through the NHS? Would you then repay the tax you had claimed back to pay for your optional treatment? Because otherwise you wou.ld be expecting to have your expensive and urgent treatment paid for by others who hadn’t claimed tax back and sliced off a little bit off the top of the cake for themselves…..

The system only works* if everyone accepts that everyone pays in and you get back what they need not what they want. If you want extra, breast implants, a face lift, physio, designer vagina you pay for it yourself.

(*That is not to say it doesn’t need looking at, the current funding model is badly flawed and the system itself is clumsy and inefficient.)

That's an interesting idea. No idea how it could work in practice though.

Wouldn’t PIP be for this kind of thing?