Will the NHS recover? What happens if not?

[ilovemykids1]

As somebody with extreme health anxiety, seeing the collapse of the NHS is horrible and I get so scared of what's going to happen.

Do you think it can ever recover? How many years would this take? And if not, what would happen instead!?

I can’t possibly see how the answers to that will help your feelings of anxiety. Turn off the news.

Until a political party (regardless of who they are) accepts that it is a shambles and that until we get people to accept that they are responsible for their own health and that only a co payment system will work we will continue to throw money at a complete mess.

It’s already fallen, sadly. The demand way outstrips resources and we have an aging population. I have HA too and the best thing I’ve done practically speaking is to get private insurance. A fortune but puts my mind at rest at least.

I would probably get insurance if it's affecting your life that much.

It can’t recover without significant change. It’s completely outdated and badly run on every level.

but voters don’t really want the change that’s needed so governments will just tinker and spend more.

I think its at the point of private insurance is going to be there way forward.
They've wanted to change it for a while.and it appears they've starved it of cash for a reason.

Their internal organisation is horrendous. There are cottage industries being run everywhere. Chief Executives are being paid £££ and just moving on when they mess things up.

This government in particular has no appetite to reform. Yes, I do have private insurance. The NHS is broken.

There's a really good
Campaign I follow / support
Called Every Doctor. Really informative about where the NHS is going and what we can do. It helps me to feel I'm actually doing something too.

Too many folk, it wasn’t built for the sheer number of people needing it. Look at dentistry, the NHS will be private soon.

If everyone paid £15 to see a GP then they could get funding that but folk would rather see it collapses than agree to that so you reap what you sow
and all.

I also think people need to take more responsibility for their own health. If we had to pay for it I bet more people would make different lifestyle choices.

Much of the country is already in poverty/struggling significantly with the cost of living. Private insurance is not the way forward and is terrifying for those who simply cannot afford it.
We cannot end up like America where if you have no money or insurance you die. There are people there with stage 4 cancer having to work full time just to keep their insurance to treat their cancer. It’s absolutely brutal

No. There will be a new norm of a service which provides substandard care in an unacceptable time frame

100%

Whatever happens, healthcare will exist and be accessible by us all for most things. I think what will happen is what the NHS provides will have to shrink in remit as ‘everything for all immediately’ is not possible anymore.
we may need to accept paying for non urgent non life threatening things or paying insurance premiums to cover these.

People need to stop calling 999 for something that is not an emergency- I work in A&E and I know this is happening constantly everywhere!

It would probably be in a better state if people who use massive forums like Mumsnet stopped telling posters to go to the GP for every sniffle, ring 111 for every ache and pain and A&E when it's clearly not needed.

Where have you seen anyone being told to go to the GP or A&E for nothing?
Most of the time people are asking about serious issues or things that are potentially very serious.

I see it all the time.

BTW when I say I think we're heading for some sort of insurance backed scheme, I do think it will mean only people with insurance will be able to access anything other than life saving care.
People working cash in hand jobs and of questionable immigration status will not be able to access care.

I also pay for private health insurance which is eyewateringly expensive for the family. What worries me most is that DH has a medical condition which means he has to be operated on in a hospital with high dependency beds just in case, and there are no private hospitals near us who can provide that should he need surgery. We are lucky that we are otherwise fit and healthy.
At this stage I don't think the NHS can recover as it is now - they will probably have to limit what they provide, and make uncomfortable decisions about extraordinary measures or performing expensive surgeries for example. It's tempting to throw it all in the bin and remake it...

People working cash in hand jobs and of questionable immigration status will not be able to access care

You must be kidding with that last sentence! The state of the country now haha.

No. It's moving towards private insurance.

I don't really understand the comments suggesting privatisation. It needs massive reforms and restructure but how would privatisation work and make that better? Also do we really think that would reduce taxes? Ie- government aren't paying for the NHS anymore therefore we should get a tax cut?

It already is hugely privatised
im having a scan next week, third party company.
i needed gynae last year, third party company. Its already happened this is what people don’t realise

Maybe I've been lucky but in my experience the NHS care has been excellent. My mum, my uncle and my cousin were all cured of cancer- my father's life was saved after a stroke.
Very recently a family friend was extremely ill and in hospital for 4 weeks and he said the care was 'outstanding'.
My child was born healthily in hospital and I've received excellent care from my GP for a variety of conditions, mental and physical.
The NHS saved thousands if not millions of lives during the pandemic.
I get that there are problems and the complexities associated with an ageing population are putting a lot of pressure on hospitals.
But I honestly don't think it is broken.

But there'd be exemptions and the minute there are exemptions it'll just be me paying as usual.

No one is suggesting whether privatisation is a good idea or not. It's going that way, is what we are suggesting, whether you like it or not. Many insiders know this. Many Doctors and staff tell me this, I've done the accounts for private medical people, private ambulance company's, big pharmaceutical company's. They all say it is.