NHS now saying stuff is free.

No, it doesn't mean you should accept crap service, if that's what you are having to accept, but people like the OP whining about something so trivial is just pathetic, and the very definition of "entitled".

I work in service delivery for public sector and I don’t like saying free either I prefer fully funded to show that it does actually cost taxpayer money so please don’t waste it!

Ours are in Morrisons car park. I thought that was standard.

Whether we’re paying for it or not through our taxes is irrelevant. The NHS is, and always has been, a free service accessible to all, and just because it’s free, it doesn’t mean we should accept crap service. It used to be run pretty efficiently a few decades ago. If the government no longer want it to be free, then let them say so. It’s either free, or it isn’t. Personally, I think the NHS is no longer fit for purpose, and I think at least some of it should be privatised. I’d happily pay something to get a half decent service, as long as everyone else pays too.

This is where we seem to be going atm. ‘Be grateful for your free mammogram’, ‘Be grateful you get a (rare these days) face to face appointment with your GP’ ‘Be grateful they offer you a scan for your gynae problem (even if you have to wait six months)’.

I live in a country with a mostly free health service (we do pay for some things) and I have never encountered this attitude of "we are paying for it" (which of course we are, via our taxes) so prevalent on MN. I agree with the pp that Brits do seem to be very entitled. All this talk of how posters have "paid for the NHS" - unless you are an extremely high earner I doubt the majority have paid nearly enough for the care received.

Incidentally, our free health care system was set up before the NHS was!

Not for every single thing. When you’re really ill the NHS is amazingly fast, even investigations are fast now - my colonoscopy was done six weeks after referral. No waiting lists at all for screening.

Are they?

Like fuck they are mire accessible.

How long are the waiting lists? Months for every singe thing.

Germany, France, Sweden and Austria spend more on healthcare as a percentage of GDP and patients still have to contribute. It’s an irrefutable fact that services like screening are more accessible here.

it’s people like you who contribute to the failure of the health service with your genuflecting acceptance and complete lack of questioning.

Look at every single European health service before you start admonishing.

Yabu. It's worded that way to encourage people to take up the scan which might be worried they have to pay.

some people pay no tax and are still entitled to it. All « free » stuff comes out of taxation. Someone somewhere has to pay for everything

They are just trying to reduce any perceived barriers to people being able to have access to screening.. I actually cannot believe you have a problem with this rather than think how fortunate we are to have access to FREE AT THE POINT OF CONTACT healthcare... Complain by all means but YABU and you know it.

It’s never going to happen. No party proposing it would get a sniff of power.

It may not be free for long. Depends on how the GPs vote. There is talk of introducing a means tested scheme similar to dentists. I'm looking forward to not being able to go to the dentist or the doctor.

Well first of all, you’d need to be 100% sure that the patient had received their appointment. And that it was clear.

Because just now, people don’t receive their appointment letters or tgey arrive late.
ive had ‘text confirmation’ sent with no indication what it was for etc….

Otherwise, yes. Thars exactly what HCP, (but also hairdressers etc etc…) do in private practice.

I wonder what would happen if appointments were free - but you were charged if you had confirmed an appointment and then failed to show... It happens to a lof of our clinic appointments...

They are trying to cut waiting lists, so offer people the first appointment (which can be further from you geographically), you can always turn it down/arrange at another NHS facility. But yes they probably will privatise elements of NHS treatment.

Your NI contributions don’t begin to cover what breast screening costs. And yes. Be grateful that you have access to life saving screening services that many women in other countries have to pay for, as well as treatment following a diagnosis - meaning that many die if they can’t afford it. The entitlement on this thread is utterly breathtaking.

Mammograms and bowel screenings in our area are done via a private health care company, contracted to the NHS. They stress that these services are free simply because their logo is on the letterhead, and they don’t want people to assume it’s a private service and they’ll have to pay.

Same here. I was diagnosed with ILC (invasive lobular breast cancer) after a routine screening. ILC doesn’t form lumps and has no symptoms in the early stages - it travels flat through the tissues and because tumours are hard to detect on scans they are usually large when diagnosed. I had two - 10cm and 13cm. Didn’t even know they were there. If it hadn’t been for the mammogram I wouldn’t be telling the tale.

This!!!!!

No, you made bigoted assumptions simply because I think the NHS wastes money.
There is no point pouring more money into a broken system, it needs to be fixed and yes, I'm very angry at the way its being run, is that allowed without being branded a right wing capatilist who wants to destroy the NHS?

Maybe try reading the links.

I was not making "nasty assumptions" but drew conclusions based on your comments. You certainly didn't sound as though you love the NHS & want to keep it. You sounded disparaging & demanding.

I am sick to the back-teeth of people badmouthing the NHS & making drawing their own conclusions that the expenditures you refer to are in the NHS's gift to fix. Underfunding & short staffing will lead to waste & errors.

There simply isn't a "shit tonne" of money going into the NHS in comparison to the demands made on it - but as someone who is so well informed, you will know all of this.