I am scared of the state of healthcare system

[Notsurewhattheansweris]

I am going to start saying that I respect all the clinicians and doctors and my personal experience has generally been positivie (with the exception of one case which likely led to a physchological trauma).

Whenever I see things on Mumsnet, there are so many stories of negligence, people being fobbed off, missed cancers etc. etc.

I find it really difficult after my own experience to feel safe anymore. It did leave me with a health anxiety that I am in therapy for but I cannot see the end to it because ultimately, I do not feel safe anymore.

What do you do, how do you cope? Or is it just my anxiety talking and we only see the scariest stories here that are still rare and not the norm?

Very best of luck with your treatment x

The UKs ridiculous coddling of the failed NHS and state pension system will ruin us all and destroy our children's health and future. But try and change anything and you're attacked, challenge anything and you're abused. You see it here all the time, last week a woman complained about poor care and was scolded for not being grateful for such a wonderful free service.

My sister was infected with meningitis in hospital and nearly died; my step-dad was ignored and ignored, missing chances to diagnose Myeloma and died v quickly as a result. Don’t get sick. Ideally have some cash aside for a private diagnosis. It is scary!

Thank you for doing this. It is important as I think online there is bias towards the most negative stories.

Logically, I do not even believe it is 50/50... But it is hard not to get alarmed when seeing those absolutely terrible stories.

I just remember that if I really desperately need treatment I can always take out a loan and go private. I had an aunt whose cancer killed her because delayed scans kept leading to delayed surgery and I often feel annoyed that I didn’t push her to just get a scan privately and shove it at the doctors. Even just to chivvy things along.

I can pay loans back but I cannot get a second life.

@comfortfoodcafethe NHS is UNDER not over managed. Don’t swallow the sound bites about there being too many “pen pushers”.

A failure to pay any attention to social care, ill health prevention, and the needs of any aging population is the source of the problem - which when paired with inadequate funding and no comprehensive workforce plan has led to a service which is collapsing.

Go and pay for private care.

Or failing that, just don't seek any treatment for your issues.

You can't complain about something you get for free.

I am so sorry about your aunt.

I do not disagree with what you are saying but it is not financially sustainable.

In the last year alone I had three lumps that needed to be investigated.

Obviously a 96 year old (or similar) wouldn’t usually have enough income to afford this, if indeed they could find anyone willing to insure them at all.

It’s also important to remember that no system is perfect. My husband paid for a CAT scan of his head in another country after being ill for months… they said there were leaks in his ears causing the issues. We then saw several ENT specialists in the UK who looked at the scans and said they could see no such thing…

Medicine is a science that requires a lot of guesswork. There are things we do not know about the body and not everything has a cure. People also think that cancer is one ‘thing’ but it’s hundreds of different diseases under one label all which behave differently and react differently to treatments. And people’s bodies are all different too.

Totally agree

Weeks of being fobbed off, not sent for a scan led to early cancer death in our family. Would always seek a private diagnosis if needed.

This happens all the time.

I think this is a bit short sighted. I have a friend who has a parent in a country where healthcare is private but much cheaper who has just spent £240k on cancer treatment. One couldn’t borrow that without a significant asset to borrow against (ie remortgaging) and one can’t remortgage past a certain age either. It’s not always an option at all.

People are inclined to talk about bad experiences on forums like MN as they want to vent. It's not an accurate way to assess what's going on though and it's also scary for people who are anxious. The people who have good experiences are less likely to bother so it skews the debate.

By the way, I'm quite sceptical of whether the NHS can ever be all the things people want it to be and I think reform is needed so I'm absolutely not someone who defends it against all criticism. However I'm at the very start of what will be a pretty gruelling journey and I've been impressed so far.

It really isn’t. But a friend who had cancer recently got private diagnosis v quickly then straight back into NHS. If you go to your GP with a diagnosis they would have to fast track you?

I cannot afford it. I have a sensible, not minimal wage job, but I just cannot afford what I need.

Then don't complain about what you get for free.

I’m sorry to hear that. Insurance through work, or paid for privately, can help if you’re someone who gets multiple issues. Most people do not see that number of lumps within that timeframe and it sounds like the NHS has investigated for you anyway. It’s just good to remember that if the NHS really is failing you… you can shell out £1000 and get a biopsy that week.

You asked for help with your anxiety. Not with fixing the system.

Why not? I pay taxes.

Not necessarily although admittedly cancer treatment on the NHs is excellent. But pushing your way to the front of the queue by accessing the cheap end of private healthcare (scans etc) is something many many people can do and the nhs does have things in place to stop this sort of queue jumping for many pathways

You don’t get all the treatment privately… you get the scan, diagnosis, test or whatever it is you’re waiting yonks for and then go back to your doctor to say ‘hey, I have x and need treatment’ and it knocks weeks/months off the wait time.

How is it queue jumping to say ‘I have gone elsewhere and used my own resources instead of yours and confirmed I have X cancer’? It saves the NHS money and gets a firm answer so they can swing you into the treatment path instead of leaving you to die as they did my aunt

The odds are in your favour, if you had a medical emergency you would get the treatment you need. it’s only the negligence cases you hear of, you don’t hear of the thousands of people everyday that the nhs does save.

The money spent on “managers” is a tiny part of the problem - the problem is we expect a world class service that pays for ever more complex health issues and an aging population but then we refuse to vote for any party that is prepared to raise taxes to fund it. 🤷‍♀️

thing is with private medical insurance is that they dont insure you for pre-existing conditions. And it is really ridiculous how wide that net is. So if you had been to GP a lot with complaints of headaches, never got referral, then a year later got a brain cancer diagnosis, the insurance won't pay for your tests or treatment etc. So it is not always an option either. And no, I did go private, and I am have a significant debt because of it.

The education system is in a very similar state. Both of these areas of the public sector have far too many administrators and managers. There is a lot of money to make from penpushing and box-ticking.