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Original poster

What should the NHS not fund?

536 replies

Username721 · 15/03/2023 20:45

Saw a thread on IVF for lesbians and some people felt that IVF should not be for anyone on the NHS. So it got me thinking.

Is there anything you feel should be exclusively private treatment? The ones often debated are things like weight loss surgery, cosmetic procedures, treatment for avoidable illness such as smoking-induced ones, liver failure through alcohol abuse, drug rehabilitation…

Thoughts?

OP posts:
AnuSTart · 15/03/2023 20:51

In an ideal world all health needs would be taken care of. As it is after decades of mismanagement and being a haven for health tourism we should not be funding any treatment which preventative medicine would avoid. More money needs to be put into lifestyle education, preventative treatments and infrastructure change.

MayThe4th · 15/03/2023 20:53

I agree re IVF.

Quveas · 15/03/2023 20:54

My friend died of lung cancer. Never smoked a day in his life. How will you be deciding who caused their ill health and who didn't? And haven't those people also paid for their treatment through taxes etc?

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General health
SquashPenguin · 15/03/2023 20:59

If funding for fertility treatment was stopped then I believe maternity care should be self funded after a certain number of kids. You want them, you pay for them after all?

Thatsnotmyname2047 · 15/03/2023 21:00

Did you need any sort of assisted conception OP? If not, you're not in a place to judge whether it should be offered on the NHS imo.

BluebellBlueballs · 15/03/2023 21:00

Gender reassignment surgery

Not when people are dying of cancer or other life threatening illnesses due to waiting lists

ReeseWitherfork · 15/03/2023 21:01

Anything with limited clinical value. I think the biggest issue here is the postcode lottery associated with it. There should be a national list, not each individual CCG/ICS forming their own.

SquashPenguin · 15/03/2023 21:03

Thatsnotmyname2047 · 15/03/2023 21:00

Did you need any sort of assisted conception OP? If not, you're not in a place to judge whether it should be offered on the NHS imo.

Completely agree.

GarlicGrace · 15/03/2023 21:04

Absolutely loathe the idea of denying essential medical treatment for supposedly self-induced conditions. It's despicable. And, as we learn more about autoimmune conditions, epigenetics & so on, the list of 'self-induced' illnesses grows longer. What about people who get injured in accidents? Should they be left on the slopes with their skiing injuries, or in their mangled cars after taking a corner too fast?

I agree about IVF. No-one has the right to a child. I'd probably take plastic surgeries back to the days when a thorough psych evaluation was required. And I'd stop all NHS 'gender' treatments, except unbiased psych therapy.

pizzaHeart · 15/03/2023 21:04

I agree with @ReeseWitherfork that it should be national consistent approach not a postcode lottery. And the same with how you access GPs and other services.

blisstwins · 15/03/2023 21:05

SquashPenguin · 15/03/2023 20:59

If funding for fertility treatment was stopped then I believe maternity care should be self funded after a certain number of kids. You want them, you pay for them after all?

Fertility issues can be totally health related. I tried to have children at age 30. Turned out I had endometriosis. I had good health care coverage and ultimately twins (US). In states that did not require insurance to cover (this self pay) rates of multiples and complications were so high. I get not funding 45+, but fertile age lesbians should not need ivf unless a medical problem and artificial insemination is cheap.

MillicentTrilbyHiggins · 15/03/2023 21:06

I don't think it's as simple as 'should the NHS fund x' for most things. A holistic, whole person approach is needed.

If someone has liver failure due to alcoholism there's probably a reason they are an alcoholic. It's not as simple as it being their fault. Ditto smoking, obesity etc.

Cosmetic surgery purely for ascetic reasons I don't think should be funded, but eg a boob reduction isn't purely cosmetic. Unless the cosmetic issue is causing MH issues, then it should be assessed on a case by case basis.

I don't think GRS should be funded, but intensive MH should be given to help the person come to terms with their body. Much like cosmetic surgery I guess.

pizzaHeart · 15/03/2023 21:07

I don’t agree about IVF, infertility is not about poor choices or bad planning. It’s very often the result of other medical issues.

XanaduKira · 15/03/2023 21:09

GarlicGrace · 15/03/2023 21:04

Absolutely loathe the idea of denying essential medical treatment for supposedly self-induced conditions. It's despicable. And, as we learn more about autoimmune conditions, epigenetics & so on, the list of 'self-induced' illnesses grows longer. What about people who get injured in accidents? Should they be left on the slopes with their skiing injuries, or in their mangled cars after taking a corner too fast?

I agree about IVF. No-one has the right to a child. I'd probably take plastic surgeries back to the days when a thorough psych evaluation was required. And I'd stop all NHS 'gender' treatments, except unbiased psych therapy.

I completely agree with this and also ensuring that there is national consistency rather than the postcode lottery.

SquashPenguin · 15/03/2023 21:09

blisstwins · 15/03/2023 21:05

Fertility issues can be totally health related. I tried to have children at age 30. Turned out I had endometriosis. I had good health care coverage and ultimately twins (US). In states that did not require insurance to cover (this self pay) rates of multiples and complications were so high. I get not funding 45+, but fertile age lesbians should not need ivf unless a medical problem and artificial insemination is cheap.

Show quote history

I’ve already forked out £18k on ivf myself and still have no baby. I would never expect it to be fully funded round after round, but there should be equal coverage/ subsidies across the country. The lottery is so unfair. Anyone who totally dismisses it is likely one of these women who got to pick which month they conceived in to suit them best. Infertility has made me suicidal. People not going through it just can’t understand and never will.

Badger1970 · 15/03/2023 21:11

IVF is unusual though because it's success rate is fairly low, especially as women get older. If it had a higher success rate, few would question it.

What bugs me is the amount of clinics/hospital appointments that elderly people are routinely given. It often means an entire morning or afternoon, they need relatives to get them there/ambulance transport and it rarely achieves anything other than a repeat appointment getting booked - it's frustrating that there aren't more geriatic /speciality nurses in the community. When my Dad was alive, it used to drive me mad. It would be a 60 mile round trip between leaving work, collecting him, getting him to the hospital and in reverse again. He would struggle walking the distances in the corridors but would refuse a wheelchair. When they would say see you in 6 months, I used to want to stamp my feet and shout "do you know what it takes to get him here for this!!".

defi · 15/03/2023 21:13

IVF, iui icsi all should go. Chances of them working are incredibly small. It's not an essential life saving treatment.

MintJulia · 15/03/2023 21:13

I wouldn't give a&e space to rolling drunks over the age of 18.

Town centre drunk tanks can patch them up. They are the last thing that genuinely sick and injured people need, and a waste of nhs nursing resource.

Itstheway · 15/03/2023 21:14

If funding for fertility treatment was stopped then I believe maternity care should be self funded after a certain number of kids. You want them, you pay for them after all?

this!!! A lot of the time IVF is used to assist those with health issues such as PCOS and it is limited to 1 round, why should NHS be used for maternity care but not assist those struggling to conceive, what a kick in the teeth to those who struggle.

Soloparenthelp · 15/03/2023 21:14

Awards nights and gala dinners for staff when nurses are eating at food banks !!!!

AnneLovesGilbert · 15/03/2023 21:14

People who don’t think the NHS should fund IVF, would you stop funding for any assisted fertility things like clomid, surgery for endo, treatment for recurrent miscarriage, miscarriage surgery?

Jadviga · 15/03/2023 21:15

BluebellBlueballs · 15/03/2023 21:00

Gender reassignment surgery

Not when people are dying of cancer or other life threatening illnesses due to waiting lists

But the doctors who perform gender reassignment surgery are not oncologists so the cancer treatment waiting lists are utterly irrelevant. If you don't think people should be able to get GRS because you don't like trans people you should just say so...

lipstickwoman · 15/03/2023 21:16

Anything cosmetic should go. Patients should have to demonstrate they have done everything they can to help their condition before any surgical intervention.

No postcode lottery.

Fertility treatment I don't know enough about to really have a view.

Original poster
Username721 · 15/03/2023 21:17

Thatsnotmyname2047 · 15/03/2023 21:00

Did you need any sort of assisted conception OP? If not, you're not in a place to judge whether it should be offered on the NHS imo.

I had IUI for my child. It wasn’t NHS though; it was privately funded.

Not sure why you think I’m judging anything though. I opened up a question. I haven’t even stated my opinion.

OP posts:
AnneLovesGilbert · 15/03/2023 21:17

defi · 15/03/2023 21:13

IVF, iui icsi all should go. Chances of them working are incredibly small. It's not an essential life saving treatment.

A hip replacement isn’t life saving either. Or hearing aids. Where do you draw the line?