Is the NHS now about treating 'shi t life syndrome'?

[mids2019]

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jul/03/the-guardian-view-on-labours-nhs-plan-it-is-right-to-celebrate-medical-science-but-delivery-is-the-hard-part

A Guardian article but it seems like this push to reduce health inequality is making the NHS look like part of our benefits system. While I agree with good health for all is this strategy going to appeal to a middle class tax payer base who are a lot of their tax going to a struggling NHS with the money ultimately flowing from their pockets to more deprived areas? It seems like the poorer the area the more snazzier and funded your health service will be and I just wonder if ultimately this may too the balance towards a more health insurance based syatem?

I can't comment on your area as I obviously don't know what has been done, but I haven't seen any serious attempts yet to tackle health inequalities where I live. Lots of talk but not much action.

Whether these new initiatives will actually make a difference or not, only time will tell.

Another day, another bit of propaganda for whoever it is out there (Reform? The Tories? USA medical companies?) who want to rubbish the NHS, make out that the welfare state is something decent people don't want to fund and drive us towards a system where people are no longer cared for from the cradle to the grave based on want at the point of need.

Excitable nonsense about half of the middle class don't wanting to emigrate.

Made up drivel by people with an agenda.

This is to address the well known ‘inverse care law’ whereby people with the least need for care have the best services whilst those with the most need have the poorest.

Middle class people already have better services, care, health and opportunities than others and apparently still begrudge more being spent on those on greater need. Sad really.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cjd2y7dkjpxo

There have been limited pioneer set ups which have reduced hospitalisations

Yes, but working class people often do those important jobs that keep the country going. Not their fault those jobs are often poorly paid. It’s a bit swings and roundabouts. Everyone deserves a decent standard of care.

If the Tories hadn't deliberately and systematically run education, housing, social care, mental health provision, community care, the NHS and SureStart into the ground over the last 14 years then there wouldn't be so many people in need.

And guess what you have a choice already
Good news! You can buy private health care and not have to use the NHS if you so desire. Nothing stopping you. The NHS is fundamentally a socialist institution. Care is given on the basis of need and not ability to pay. That’s why I love it and have given my life to it. In my view it is one of the best things about Britain.

Nye Bevan is a big hero of mine
https://radicalteatowel.co.uk/blog/7-quotations-that-define-aneurin-bevan

https://nhsproviders.org/resources/health-hubs-a-community-centred-prevention-initiative-to-address-health-inequalities

A lot of those people are government employees on in work benefits because the government pays them so poorly.

How have we found ourselves in a situation where government pay is so poor that government benefits have to top them up?

Followed by anxious postings about how small the army is/bemoaning the proportion of young people who say they aren't prepared to fight in a war. So it's reasonable to expect the young and the proles to die for our country in war time. But expecting me to pay for someone else's asthma inhaler is frankly an outrageous expectation.

And if you emigrate to another country and shit hits the wall there the UK government generally ends up having to spend a lot of money evacuating UK citizens or providing consular advice (most recently Lebanon and Israel but I am sure the overstretched army would also save people in Dubai if needed). My tax money. Which is fine really - British citizens deserve assistance abroad. But it's galling when the stated reason is not wanting to pay into the system.

and even more posts about how ghastly it is that people (not the poster you understand) have become more selfish and less community spirited and a regular dose of it'd all be ok if it wasn't for health tourists.

Total bilge.

@Bridport I totally agree but it works - people are incredibly susceptible to being fed any old shit and behind most of this shit there is an agenda funded by someone with cash and influence- I will give you an example, if anyone’s on Facebook you cannot fail to have seen all the negative threads about Spain and Majorca in the main from the express and local news pages etc , how it’s deserted, everything shut etc - I’m off there tommorrow, I can almost 100% guarantee they are talking total twaddle- Yes maybe less Brits are going and doing places like Turkey instead - that’s because Majorca is no longer cheap , it deliberately turned away from the cheap and cheerful end of the market , it is still full - but more from Germany, France, scandis etc - but people take as gospel the agenda they see - my father in law mentioned it to me this week - labour are poor at counteracting agenda driven drivel - because on the one hand a lot of it is driven by right wing cash , but then they have the double whammy of an unrealistic far left too , who don’t seem to think cash or business practice comes into anything - let’s just make the world nice and fairer for poorer people - sorry guys life isn’t always fair and most people making an effort big style don’t want certain people levelling up who aren’t making much effort - the far left fail to understand human nature in the majority of people beyond the age of 30.

It seems like the poorer the area the more snazzier and funded your health service

People in poor areas don't want a 'snazzier' health service.
They just want a dentist and to be able to get their child a GP appointment when needed. That's not snazzy - that's what Britain decided it wanted for all its citizens after the war.

If you privatise healthcare, you will also find that you will have to pay healthcare staff what they are worth and your bill will go up.

What little goodwill is left will vanish when someone is profiting.

I have some knowledge of this:

A lot of ds’s friends are qualifying as doctors atm. The new policy is that they cannot apply to their choice of specialism - eg a prestigious teaching hospital, but are allocated . One boy (well, I suppose he’s a man now but I’ve known him since he was 4!!) prizes from Oxbridge, has been given a small hospital in a northern town, another, Kings, has been offered two places with no specialisms.

Ok, so this might be perfectly fair and spread the good doctors around, you might argue. But both boys are now thinking of options abroad. It also seems to be acknowledging that not all doctors are equal… but that they should be…

Approximately 66.5% of personal bankruptcies in the U.S. are linked to medical issues, either due to high healthcare costs or income loss from illness.

Private medical insurance doesn't pay for pre existing conditions. If your child has already had cancer you will not be able to buy insurance for them that will cover it in future. You will have to pay - somehow, even if you have to sell your house and find yourself bankrupt.

This is the reality of the alternative to the NHS.

It used to be that people went into medicine to help others or at least that’s what they’ll have spouted at the interview. Why would you not want to help those in the greatest need? If you want to make a load of money or have prestige and social status there are easier ways believe me. If they want to sod off to Australia then fair enough there is apparently huge graduate unemployment in medicine according to other threads on here at least so I guess someone else will take that job.

Not all Drs are equal. Of course they are not. There is a spread of ability as in all professions but the key to success in medicine is not solely academic achievement but also softer skills such as being a good listener and caring. I am not convinced that medicine would be worse if the prizes from Oxford people who won’t get their hands dirty chose another job. (Before you suggest I am jealous I too have prizes from Oxbridge but I also have a conscience and a deep belief in the core values of the NHS)

So because he's an oxbridge graduate he's too good for the Northern town?

Its hardly unusual for an employer to deploy staff where they are needed.

I'm interested to know where you think you will save money emigrating with two young children?

I think it is quite unusual. Would you happily trot off hours away at your bosses say so? Or would you look for a job that might suit you better?

Because we’re breaking our backs working, caring, juggling and generally paying for this shit show whilst millions sit on their arses. There, I’ve said it.

The genuinely unwell, disabled and physically compromised are being done a huge disservice by a growing minority who are, frankly, taking the piss.

10 years earlier death would be maximum of £120,000 lost state pension.

Cost of healthcare in the 10 years or so before death tends to be the same (high) regardless of life expectancy, since the increased healthcare cost is associated with the ill-health which precedes death rather than strictly with age.

If life expectancy is lower, then the amount of tax paid in during the person's working years will be lower on average too, since the poor health preceding death may start whilst still working age Assuming they're a tax contributor.

Yes I have had the option before of relocate or find a new job in the private sector. I guess the difference with the NHS is that it is by far the biggest employer so it's not like finding another data analyst for another company in the town I want to stay in as it would be for a private company. But:

In private companies/a.privstised system there is often not a lot of employment in some specialisms going spare. I can't demand that I get a new job in my specialism.in my town of choice if I leave my old job because they want to relocate me..I have the right to look, but noone has the right to their dream job.

There is a distinct lack of sympathy on Mumsnet for unemployed people/people struggling to find work they want, where they live. "On your bike" is alive and well. I have a lot of sympathy for doctors at the moment it is a bit shit. But some posters are so harsh on working class/poorer people but outraged if their friends sons don't get exactly the place they need because they are upper middle class and somehow that's different. (Especially when they are still training/getting experience. The work they do is super important still but flexibility is a fairly normal expectation in the private sector when people are starting out).

’I won’t move to a northern town, because that’s much too far away and inconvenient, I’ll trot off to the much closer Australia instead’

the issue is the majority of the voters are net receivers now, contributors are in the minority. 5% pay 61% of the total tax revenue. It’s ridiculous. The MC is leaving, so there is less and less money to support those that choose not to contribute.