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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think the NHS is bloody wonderful and that we're very, very lucky?

260 replies

ScaredyDog · 03/09/2011 15:45

I know everyone will have had a bad experience (I know I have) but generally, I think we're so lucky.

I've been to one hospital today as an emergency and been referred elsewhere. I don't have to pay to see a doctor, the staff have been absolutely lovely (which I hope they will also be at the other hospital) and I was seen immediately. We even had a laugh about my ridiculously sized elephant foot :)

I know prescriptions can seem expensive, but really, that's the only bit we pay for upfront so to speak (and most people don't pay for their prescriptions, I'm told).

Hoping for another good experience at the next hospital anyway :) Yay for HCPs and the NHS.

OP posts:
worraliberty · 03/09/2011 15:47

I agree we are very lucky

But then again we do pay shit loads in National Insurance contributions

'Shit loads' may not be a proper unit of measurement.

featherbag · 03/09/2011 15:48

YADNBU, think we Brits undervalue our healthcare system way too much!

dittany · 03/09/2011 15:48

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
ScaredyDog · 03/09/2011 15:48

We do, but I'm sure it's cheaper than private medical insurance in countries without an NHS.

OP posts:
MmmmmCake · 03/09/2011 15:48

agree

when you go abroad and have to fork out left right and centre just to see a doctor, we realise how easy we have it

MmmmmCake · 03/09/2011 15:49

we do pay shit loads in National Insurance contributions

some do, some dont :)

Original poster
ScaredyDog · 03/09/2011 15:49

Thank you Dittany.

I know everyone has had a poor experience, with GPs, A&E etc sometimes, but you only get to hear really about the bad things, not the good. And I think overwhelmingly, it's pretty good.

OP posts:
worraliberty · 03/09/2011 15:51

Oh yes I'd say it's definitely cheaper than private medical insurance

Original poster
ScaredyDog · 03/09/2011 15:51

Must be horrible as well if you're not very well off and in a country without an NHS and you have to worry about paying to see a doctor if you're ill, that would just be awful.

OP posts:
timidviper · 03/09/2011 15:53

Apparently the costs of our NHS are substantially lower than the costs in similar developed countries who have lower treatment standards. (Have read this somewhere but freely admit I cannot substantiate it)

We currently have a sick relative abroad and the medicines alone are costing thousands every month and this is not for exceptionally costly treatment like cancer, dialysis, etc just for the costs of being elderly.

I think it would be a tragedy if this government were to diminish the NHS.

eurochick · 03/09/2011 15:54

I don't think you are being unreasonable but I do think the systems used in most Continental European countries are far superior to ours. Survival rates for diseases such as cancer are generally better and seeing a dr in the countries where I have seen one has been much easier than in the UK (no waiting, much more pleasant surroundings). Everyone seems to think of the American model as the alternative to the NHS and has in mind the flaws of that system. There are many alternatives and I don't believe that the NHS is the best way of providing healthcare.

nickelbabe · 03/09/2011 15:54

YADNU!

the NHs is such a marvellous thing - it doesn't matter who you are, how much you earn or what your situation, if you injure yourself or are ill, you can get healthcare.

And it's all paid for by our taxes.
And the best part of it is that you don't have the added stress about becoming ill, or injured, and not being able to afford the medicine or the healthcare to be mended.

can you imagine how worrying it must be in a country where you have to pay for healthcare,and needing the hospital, but finding you can't afford it?
can you imagine the added stress of losing a job (that comes with healthcare benefits), and then a family member becomes seriously ill?

Empusa · 03/09/2011 15:55

YADNBU!

I've had some poor experiences, but on the whole, there've been more good than bad. An if we were reliant on a US style medical system, I'd have been utterly lost and struggling.

pud1 · 03/09/2011 15:56

I have to agree. I never realised how good it was until my dd started to pass blood at 5 months old. I took her to my local a and e and she was diagnosed with a bowel intersersection ( still don't know how to spell it). I had a doctor by my side the entire time whilst in a and e. Was transferred to Manchester children's hospital and she was operated on that night. She was very I'll for about a week and the staff on her ward were fantastic. She has now fully recovered.

The nhs may be a pain in the arse when it comes to minor injuriesnbut they are fantastic when it counts

StrandedBear · 03/09/2011 15:58

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

CogitoErgoSometimes · 03/09/2011 16:02

YABU... it is not 'bloody wonderful' it is seriously flawed. Free healthcare at point of need is a good concept but it's letting too many people down and is too inconsistent. This week we've had the case of paralyzed teen Sophie Tyler - her life ruined after a routine op. Misdiagnoses are rife and thousands die needlessly each year. Stockport hospital is investigating how saline got contaminated leading to the deaths of several people. I've had far too many people in my own family harmed by the NHS to be dewy-eyed about it. No use it being free if it's not up to scratch. Things have to change

TidyDancer · 03/09/2011 16:06

YANBU. The NHS is bloody marvellous, and we should all be grateful for it. Mistakes are possible in every medical system in the world, the NHS system itself is not the thing to blame for Sophie Tyler's situation, Cogito, that much should be blindingly obvious.

Individuals in it that might not be up to scratch, but the system itself is second to none.

worraliberty · 03/09/2011 16:12

Private hospitals aren't perfect either though are they?

nickelbabe · 03/09/2011 16:19

Cogito - that's a little short-sighted.
Noone ever said it was perfect, but those kind of mistakes could be made by private hospitals too.

fuckthisforalarf · 03/09/2011 16:21

Cogito, can you explain by how those errors were caused by the NHS itself as a system rather than specific people or incidences?
I grew up in a 3rd world country, believe me, the UK does not have a fecking clue.

CogitoErgoSometimes · 03/09/2011 16:27

You can call me short-sighted if you like but when you've had members of your family diagnosed with cancer after being accused of malingering for three whole years, another actually killed through incompetence (and liability admitted) and several others misdiagnosed, left close to death.... and this in a relatively small family.... you'll forgive me if the NHS - and I do pin the blame on the entire organisation because it's a cultural problem - does not get my fullsome affection and admiration.

There are plenty of other examples of effective health services in the western world (not the 3rd world - that's a ridiculous comparison) that work far better and are not so inconsistent.

DorothyGherkins · 03/09/2011 16:29

They ve saved my daughter twice over from a life threatening event. Once aged 14 as a Crohns suffering when her intestines ulcerated, and only last week with an emergency caesarian when we could have so easily lost the baby and mother. I dont think you can put a price on that. I ve no complaints. Aging family members have all been helped too - nursing home was rubbish, but thats probably a different thread.

pink4ever · 03/09/2011 16:29

I get really angry when people slate the NHS. I have had a lot of expensive treatment-much more than I could have payed for had I been forced to use private health care.
I had treatment for a serious illness in both scotland and england and was very well treated. I have also spent a lot of time in hospital and at appointments due to lots of pregnancy complications.
If it hadnt been for the fantastic treatment I received at my sadly missed maternity hospital then I wouldnt have the dcs I do have now. Its as simple as that.
No its not perfect but its much maligned imo.

fuckthisforalarf · 03/09/2011 16:31

Funny how all these errors/mistakes/misdiagnoses seem to happen to the same family?? Personally I have never had anything wrong or bad happen. Sometimes a less than sympathetic HCP, but on the whole, DD2's life saved when she had septicaemia at 9 weeks, lots of tests and XR's on DD1 for repeated urinary infections (which turned out to be worms Blush, support and advice when I had PND.
The NHS is bloody wonderful.

Iggly · 03/09/2011 16:34

Please tell me of these wonderful health care systems in other countries which are universal?

Things go wrong, that is not a reason to tar the while NHS IMO.

We take it for granted what we have.

Can you imagine having medical workshops where poor people get treatment because of the goodwill of some doctors - which they'd not receive otherwise? This is in America, oh wonderful healthcare system that it has.

Private healthcare providers dont cover anywhere near as much as the NHS so it would be stupid to pretend that it's a "NHS" problem when things go wrong.

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