What’s the point in the NHS?

Well they haven’t as those that need physio get it. Zero problems to access it in my area and I live in an underfunded area.

Then you should know better! Let the swelling reduce and ask them for a second opinion if it seems not to improve. Did you think that would impress your A and E doctor?

I wonder what health economists actually advocate

Well that's good to hear ;)
I tore my ligament once with a bad sprain and ended up on crutches for a few weeks so felt looked after for the most part...but this was 30yrs ago

How do you know what the mindset it?

I just hope farage and his cronies dont get their hands on it, that's all. I hope all those ppl who support him who wouldnt have a hope in hell of paying adequately for health support know what they are letting themselves in for. Same ppl who voted for Brexit and look how that has ended up.

I think there is a different mindset in US than in europe towards care of the population. US is essenrially a ' pioneer' mindset....look after yourself and if you dont, tough luck. Europe is a bit different.

C’mon peeps

yes the nhs does good stuff.

it doesn’t mean that no mistakes are made and that everyone gets the healthcare they are entitled to.

it’s well documented that waiting lists are much longer. It’s well documented that in certain areas (child and adolescent mental health) the nhs provision is so inadequate compared to demand for it by children and young people who are genuinely mentally ill (anorexia, suicide attempts etc) that it might as well be non existent.

i’m disabled and again it’s well documented that for certain groups of people (those with learning disabilities, those who are disabled generally) the level of care given in the event of the person needing it is woefully below minimum standards. There was a big report out on that recently.

like any system, the nhs meets some people’s healthcare needs. If you’ve been ill and you’ve been well treated then great. Plenty of people do not have the same experience which is why complaints are up and private GPs and private work generally is exploding.

When I was about 9 (almost 40 years ago!) I sprained my ankle VERY badly. I couldn't bear any weight, and my ankle and foot were black and blue. They were also HUGE - I couldn't get footwear on my foot and I had to wear my Dads socks to keep my foot warm because my own wouldn't fit.

I probably tore ligaments as I still have issues with the ankle today. But hey-ho I had an accident.

The NHS treatment I got was

• an x-ray to check it wasn't broken
• a tubigrip bandage to provide support
• a pair of crutches with the instruction to get off them as soon as possible and to move the joint as soon as possible to ensure future mobility
• the advice to stay off school and elevate and ice the ankle for the next few days to reduce the swelling
• a follow up appointment at the hospital a few weeks later to check all was healing fine

The advice and treatment I got about 40 years ago is the exact same advice that is on the NHS website.

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/sprains-and-strains/

And it seems to be exactly the same as the treatment you received.

I imagine the difference in treatment between yourself and your Mum is due to severity of the injury - your Mums injury was likely much worse than yours.

It sounds like you have a sprain and possibly a small tear, rather than major ligament damage that your Mum might have experienced. If your Mum had almost or completely torn the ligaments away from their anchorage point, then surgery might have been needed to reattach them if the injury didn't heal in the rest period.

If you don't have that level of injury, then you won't get the same care.

If you adopt an attitude the staff are within their rights not to treat you. Which is probably what happened.

You clearly don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re just making stuff up now - it’s laughable 😂.

For all those opining about underfunding, NHS and wider health services account for approximately 18%-24% of total government spending in the UK. That's a hell of a lot of money.

...which is in the ballpark of 8% of GDP. Which is a lot of money, but healthcare is important, and expensive. Do you want doctors and nurses on minimum wage? Do you want to be denied crucial but expensive drugs?

From what I can easily tell, this is fractionally less than France, about 20% less than Germany, and about half of what the US spends (while still managing to be a shitshow).

It looks to me like the NHS does basically okay with relatively little. It's a long way from perfect, obviously.

Things have definitely got worse in the last ten years. But that's because the population is older, fatter, and sicker than it was then. We spend a fortune on the NHS but it is nowhere near enough to guarantee very high quality private standard care every time. Like everything else we have a choice between

A) The NHS - a very imperfect service for everyone, that is about 6/10 mostly but is sometimes 2/10 and sometimes 9/10

B) Some other type of model that provides a 3/10 service for the poor and a 8/10 service for the rich.

It really isn't. Even cancer treatment/care is hit and miss.

Yes, and I'd say the main problem in the UK atm is that people want Scandinavian, German, Benelux etc. level standards of public services, in exchange for US levels of taxation.

It ain't happening.

My DH is still waiting for physio, six weeks after being discharged from hospital after a major leg operation and being promised he'd get a physio home visit within "a couple of days" to show him how to walk (he came home on a stretcher by ambulance). He can't walk, can't put weight on it, still mostly bed-bound, just "hopping" around to move. The orthopaedic surgeon said he'd be "up and about" within a week. Impossible to contact anyone to ask whether it's just a delay or whether the referral for physio was even made, or lost. We've phoned the orthopaedic dept several times, gone through the "story" about the op, etc., and promised someone would call us back, but they never do. Even the promised orthopaedic 6 week progress review appointment hasn't yet been made.

That's the problem with the NHS. It's all haphazard, some things good, some things poor. There needs to be some consistency.

I agree with OP. Two weeks ago I knew I had torn by Achilles, went to A&E saw a PA, they wouldn't refer me to a doctor. Patronising, rubbish PA told me not to be a dramatic woman and it was a sore muscle. Knew he was wrong, paid for a private MRI, torn Achilles back to A&E put in a cast two weeks later.....now the hospital say my recovery is much more complex and will probably need surgery.

If only they had listened, can see why the BMA is so worried about PAs. The very good A&E doctor I eventually got to see told me to complain as it's happening too often.

Well is it before you know it's sprained and may be broken etc
Even then I wouldnt call it an emergency. It's not life threatening.

It appears that I’m not eligible to use the nhs, or at least not able to access it in any way.

Moved house, registered at local Gp. First thing they did was to immediately stop by prescriptions until I’d been in to see them. OK but having tried several times to get an appt despite explaining the situation, no availability. I had to arrange to get the meds privately, which I still do as the meds just can’t be stopped suddenly.

Im told I’m not entitled to anything other than an over 40s health check (never heard anything, so I asked but was fobbed off again) and a smear test. Again no appointments. Ever. Private again then.

Father in law was having a stroke when we were out shopping - with pretty severe symptoms - we were refused an ambulance and had to try and get him to hospital ourselves (two small women trying to get a 13 stone man through a shopping centre who is barely able to walk, had lost power down one side, wet himself and vomitting) On eventual arrival at hospital no one would help then either. It’s a miracle he’s still here. He is alive in spite of, not because of the nhs. Just putting him to bed at home would probably have had the same effect.

I could go on. So no, I don’t know what the nhs is supposed to provide or what the point of it is, as it’s currently providing nothing for me or my family.

This is exactly what happened to me, except that the swelling and bruising took longer to appear, and it took my ankle five months to fully recover. A doctor told me I was fine to walk on it as it wasn't broken.

I struggled around with a walking stick for the first few days as it was very painful. But I never expected the NHS to provide physio; I just had to wait for the healing process to take its course.

The NHS is a mixed bag. I worked in the NHS from 2007 to 2014 and at that time it was pretty much reaching all targets.
I've had my fair share of treatment as well. The full works for breast cancer. 15 years ongoing care for rheumatoid arthritis and much more besides. It's very stretched now. In the last year I've been seen at A&E and an SDEC both times I was seen, treated and discharged in five hours. Can't fault it.
Two close relatives have had very bad fractures requiring surgery and been seen, treated, operated on and had follow up physio. These were urgent so dealt with quickly.
More recently I have been referred to two different specialities. The waiting time just for an initial appointment is ten months for non urgent referrals. If they were scanning sprained ankles I can't imagine how much worse the backlog would be.

@younknow you seem to idolise the American system, or are one of the increasing number of political activists who post on Mumsnet recently.

‘Is it the I’m alright Jack, forget about you’ profiteering in it? You do know people with diabetes die because they can’t afford insulin in the USA. People caught up in accidents, or even terrorist bombings, go bankrupt paying for their emergency care. And you better save up to give birth in hospital there because if you or your baby need extra care …
Guess what, in the NHS you get treatment.

Plus by all means pay for crutches. It’s the wrong thing to do for long-term recovery from a sprain, but you have free-will to ignore informed advice.

Are you eastern European OP? I find that people from there, and other parts of continental Europe, have quite high expectations of health services.

In the UK the NHS is mainly for saving your life if you get stabbed or have an RTA. Any walking wounded type conditions (whether chronic or accidental) and you're on your own.

The main purpose of the NHS is, of course, to be a surrogate religion now that we no longer go to Church. Instead it's something we can all band around as "Our NHS" (hallowed be it's name) and enjoy rituals such as banging pots and pans together for it. It also allows us to feel the righteous religious fury against its critics and especially baddies like The Evil Tories and Nigel Farage. The kind who would deprive us of Our NHS and leave us at the godforsaken mercy of some sort of satanic insurance based European style system.

Amen.