We should treasure our nhs here’s why

[Workingclasslass]

As people know there was a CEO of a health insurance company in America that has just been shot and killed.
Anyway I happen to be watching YouTube. I am British and one of the bullets had written on it deny did you know that this particular health insurance has the biggest record for denying claims?
That’s right, people can’t get money for being ill and that medical bankruptcy is a major thing in America right now
I will note that there was no flowers or anything like that put after he got killed. I get the impression that for a lot of Americans they can see this thing coming to happen to these people because they really are adapt at not paying out when they should.
So my point is, yes the NHS needs a lot of work it’s not perfect but I’m telling you now as somebody that has been in hospital a hell of a lot if I was in America I think I would be totally screwed with how much it would cost me.
what are your thoughts?

Honestly it really depends on your experience. It sounds like you’ve been very fortunate, but the reality is this isn’t about waiting a bit too long for a non-urgent medical issue. People are literally dying the NHS is that bad at the moment. And I’m talking about healthy, young adults with their entire futures ahead of them.

Well, I don’t understand that because I can call my GP practice in the morning and pretty much get a telephone appointment in the afternoon with a one of them associates that are like a GP and also I’ve had a gp to.

'Physician associates' are nothing like a GP. Did they tell you they were? They've done a two-year course, and their rate of serious errors is horrifying.

@JustMyView13

I’d love to see it completely revived, but unfortunately I think we spend so long being grateful for it, clapping our saucepans & defending it, that nobody is willing to be objectively critical and fix it.

Nail on the head there. Sadly, if it's not reformed, we WILL end up with the US system sadly. Because too many people don't want it to be reformed into a similar model to most of Europe, Aus or Canada, people will increasingly move to insurance and private care, leaving the NHS to just deteriorate further for the poor sods who can't afford private/insurance.

I agree with you OP.

It didn't take long for the right wing to ship on. All that ££££. No wonder the USA was so keen to get its hands on contracts. Personally, I can't see that a neglected system will improve if the profit seekers move in. Kiss of death. And £50bn profits, eventually. See how the public prefers that.

• Contracts in our country, by the way.

Thanks

I am in Wales where the NHS is supposedly shit. It isn't. Began feeling really unwell on Sunday night. Rang the GP at 8am on Monday, had to wait a while in a queue to get through, admittedly. Was given an appointment for 9:15. GP spent about 20 minutes with me. Had blood tests the next morning and by Wednesday had a diagnosis and a prescription. I am also having an x-ray next week (appointment was made to my preference for date and time), just to be on the safe side to rule a couple of other things out.

I am so grateful. I am very rarely ill and the nature of this was really scary, but the GP was fantastically helpful and supportive.

Unfortunately this is true😞

Which one works well? Off the top of my head I'm going to say Singapore.

Op, you, and many others, need to start looking at other systems, not just US. It's nkt NHS and US only around the world. That's VERY narrow view

You’re trying to compare two different systems, two totally different cultures. The NHS began haemorrhaging money from the day is was founded unfortunately and I don’t think it’s sustainable long term and I think we’ll eventually be pushed into an insurance system, but maybe that will improve the actual service. I do think that overall the service I have received on the NHS has been good, and if I were to get diabetes or have a thyroid problem, my prescriptions and medication therefore would be totally free of charge, tax paying and NI notwithstanding, which is in total contrast to the US in many ways. It’s doesn’t have a culture of over-medication which I think is good too.

The US on the other hand, having parents who lived there for many years, is truly a capitalist country. If you can’t pay, you’re not gaining access to basic healthcare, or you’re otherwise left with crippling debt. The other issue is indeed the pharmaceutical industry where they mutually benefit from the fast food culture that just totally pervades every single facet of every day American life. On tv you will see advert after advert, either for fast food or otherwise medication. They are mutually exclusive and those industries benefit from one another. It’s shocking.

My thoughts are that treasuring our NHS shouldn't come at the cost of defending a machine that is killing people due to inefficiency.

The NHS is an absolute disaster.

From a Nurse of 30 years.

It doesn't work.

I had a major accident. the intitial care in hospital was quite good.

They missed a major complication at follow up.

My ExH had private health insurance and I booked to see a private bone surgeon because my bones were't healing, he immediately referred me on and it turned out I had serious nerve damage that the nhs hadn't spotted but that was immediately evident to him.

At the point I was in severe pain and couldn't walk.

It transpired the only nhs treatment I was entitled to after the accident was four hour long sessions of physio.

I was insured and the insurers paid out. That money paid for wheelchairs (mostly not available on the nhs) weekly physio and hydro for two years that got me back walking again and private pain consultant who prescribed me the drugs I needed.

NHS stats show that only about 50% of people who would benefit from rehab after an accident actually get any level of physio or other professional input.

There might be things the nhs does well. I haven't seen them.

Maybe Farage is testing the waters for Reform's 2029 manifesto?

I must admit that DS told me this and I have not verified it - birth in hospital was deemed an unnecessary hospital admission and so was not funded under insurance.

The Guardian quoted it right, today. That Starmer can’t afford to fail, because Farage is lying in wait.
He won’t be sitting on his hands in the meantime, but stirring up plenty of discontent, and lying more than Boris, probably. (Whilst liaising with Trump).

No it's absolutely dreadful

It's works well for the unemployed and retired who can spend all day chasing appointment but it's pretty rubbish otherwise.

And when you finally access the service it's dreadful. I've had chronic back pain for 6 years now. I've had three miscarriages, an episode and intense anxiety and menopause symptoms and all these have been awfully managed.

My most recent experience was with two physios was dreadful.

Its dead and buried as far as I am aware

I want to defend the NHS, but it's hard not to feel that it's become a millstone around our necks, as a country. It sucks up seemingly endless amounts of money and resources, and is still failing. I think major reform is needed.

From being triaged by a receptionist who told DH his sudden onset, painless jaundice wasn't a medical emergency and could wait 14 days for an appointment to being pushed from pillar to post when he had all the signs and symptoms of a DVT I am not sure DH had much to treasure about how he was treated by the NHS.

This is ridiculous; nearly 100% of US births take place in hospital. If there was some sort of insurance denial it was likely a clerical error.

People spend so much time scouring the internet for examples of US healthcare inequities when that is not the point. There are healthcare models that countries more comparable to the UK use with much better results. That should be the focus. Stop obsessing over the US insurance model.

I agree we need an nhs
But it isnt providing a service at this point. It needs someone to bring back rargets for a&e etc etc
My dc has waited 2yrs for asd/adhd diagnosis. We havent even had contact re the asd bit!!
Even she now has self diagnosed at 12..
Im going to have to refer dc2 soon but i think what is the f### point really!

Its not just that but its so much more noticeable when you have kids.
Ivf - 0-1 rounds which theyve moved the ckinic so probabky 0 rounds
Childbirth so pain relief1/10
Referal for dc eye or hip -- good 10/10
Ear infections 0/10 possibly left dc deaf perhaps they arent asd at all they needed AB and ended up in hospitak turning blue
Uti - obviously no service over weekend. Monday gave a sample. Friday yes bacterial and got AB. That could have been days off school
Cant get thyroid med or anything for pcos.

Children particularly are being failed

I had my asthma review with one. She said she can't prescribe anything. Great. She hadn't communicated properly with the doctor so my prescription was wrong. I had to speak to someone about sorting my prescription out. But if it was a nurse or GP I could have had the right prescription the first time around.

There is a middle ground between the American system and the nhs! Both have major flaws