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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think we are all just accepting the state of the NHS?

212 replies

MerryMarigold · 08/01/2017 16:08

I've seen so many threads on AIBU just in the last couple of days where people are just accepting the state of the NHS and finding ways around the lack of funding and scant resources.

I've filled in questionnaires and petitions. I share things on Facebook supporting Doctors/ Nurses and NHS. I vote Labour (whether that really helps I don't know).

I just don't know what else to do. It is ridiculous now and we're all just accepting it. I am dreading my parents old age (they are already past 70).

What can I do? What can we do?

OP posts:
Honeyandfizz · 08/01/2017 16:10

God knows but I agree that something has to change it's just knowing what that something is.

ImperialBlether · 08/01/2017 16:11

Well, when Brexit's happened, we'll have all that money that was going on Europe, won't we? That's what we were promised, after all.

slightlyglitterbrained · 08/01/2017 16:15

My MP is supportive so I will keep voting for her.

Have you heard of nhap.org/ OP?

Other than that, I keep pushing back on the "race to the bottom" pervasive bullshit.

doleritedinosaur · 08/01/2017 16:17

Don't think there's anything that can be done except trying to be pro-active where possible.

I buy as much medications as I can without prescriptions & using the minor ailment scheme which should just be for people on very low incomes not the abuse it gets.

What the NHS needs is support from the public & sadly a government that supports it.

This is the tip of the iceberg in what has happened to the NHS however it's not the staff, they are doing an amazing job with very limited resources.

toffeeboffin · 08/01/2017 16:18

I was going it start a thread like this OP, but couldn't think how to word it!

So thanks Smile

DailyFail1 · 08/01/2017 16:25

I read somewhere that the NHS was one of the largest buyers of prescription drugs in the world, and our government sponsors more medical research than most other governments. If there was a way to donate directly into these funds my company would be very interested in making annual donations

HorseyHorseyTwat · 08/01/2017 16:26

I think the problem is the current government wants it to fail so they can privatise it without an outcry, so it's current state is exactly what they wanted and have been aiming for.

Not sure what can be done as I suspect by the time we have a change in government it'll be too late.

Sleepybeanbump · 08/01/2017 16:30

Horsey sadly I think you are absolutely spot on with that.

lougle · 08/01/2017 16:34

I don't think we're 'accepting the state of the NHS' and I think that the sharp end of the NHS is as functional as it ever has been. If you suffer a life-threatening emergency, you will receive immediate, complete care worth tens of thousands of pounds without a blink of an eye. Some of the equipment we use costs over £500 just for the disposable items, without the cost of the machines, the staff, the overheads...it's staggering. Some of the antibiotics we use cost £100 per day per patient.

The area we are struggling with is delayed discharge, resulting in full beds and nowhere for newly sick patients to go. Also, with increasing admissions of older people with 'acopia' - whereas they once would have been looked after by relatives, there are no nearby able or willing relatives to look after people so they end up in hospital, dehydrated, malnourished, having fallen, etc.

ImprovingMyMH · 08/01/2017 16:35

I think Horsey is right too.

DJBaggySmalls · 08/01/2017 16:36

Thank you for starting this thread. That nhap.org link looks interesting.

cherrycrumblecustard · 08/01/2017 16:38

I don't think it is a secret desire of the government to bring down the NHS, but rather that the demand on the service is so huge.

Sallystyle · 08/01/2017 16:41

This is what the Tories wanted. What can we do? Fuck all really, except not have voted for them in the first place. Fool on people who thought it would get better.

I work for the NHS, it's a mess. I don't think we can do much to help at all. People are quick to blame the public for the mess and misusing the NHS, just what the government wanted huh?

ThoraGruntwhistle · 08/01/2017 16:41

It's not in the interests of the current government to help the NHS, because it means nothing to them whether people who need free healthcare can get it. They can afford the private medical care they'll need when the NHS no longer exists. It honestly baffles me why normal working class people vote Tory despite it being clear that it's not a party that gives a crap about them. And looking at recent polls about GE voting intention, will continue to do so.

lizzieoak · 08/01/2017 16:47

Cherry, I don't see that it's demand that's causing this. Per capita the cost between the U.K. & Canada (where I am) should be similar, ditto tax contributions into the system. Yet I am constantly boggled/horrified to hear the level of service the NHS has descended to since I lived there. Particularly the waiting hours for ambulances (ours turn up in the time it takes to get to where they're needed, not hours later). Today there's a thread on MN about not being able to get food in hospitals (our hospital food is dire, but it's available).

It seems to be lack of funding and mismanagement from what I read.

cherrycrumblecustard · 08/01/2017 16:50

It isn't just hospitals that make up the NHS though (I know you know this!)

I think there are also a lot of very elderly people trapped in hospital as its not safe for them to go home and care can't be found.

crashdoll · 08/01/2017 16:50

YANBU but on a day-to-day basis, I don't feel there is much I can do as a person and therefore, I try to be mindful of its limited resources.

lizzieoak · 08/01/2017 16:55

And we have socialized medicine, btw, so should be on an even footing.

I'm not sure, though, if similar things are provided free of charge? We have free Drs visits & free hospital care. We pay for dental (though kids from low income families get free dental and eye care). We get subsidized physiotherapy and acupuncture if low income, ditto prescriptions. My dr will often give me free samples of medicine if he has any so that I don't have to pay the (fairly low) charge for my migraine pills. We don't have post-natal health visitors and I think we should. We have subsidised nursing homes for the elderly - my mum lived in one that was run by the health authority: it was spotless, great staff, and she had about £200 (if I convert to sterling) left over from her pension every month after paying for everything. She was not expected to sell off everything first.

It seems like the NHS keeps getting hopped away at so it's (sometimes literally) death by a thousand cuts.

lizzieoak · 08/01/2017 16:59

Cross-posted.

My mum waited about a month to get a spot in a care home (Alzheimer's). I was told they were slow as they figured I could cope in the meantime.

I'm not really sure about how things like Drs wait times are? It takes me around a week to get into my gp (fucking months and months to see a specialist if not urgent - 10 months to see a neurologist for my migraines as I was triaged and it wasn't considered bad enough). If you want to see a gp more quickly (in our city) you pop into a walk-in clinic (free of course) and wait a few hours (sometimes less) and see a dr the same day.

TalkinPeace · 08/01/2017 17:00

What can you do ?
Simple
Demand of your MP that Income tax rises by 5% to fund
the NHS education and social care
its really basic
we get what we pay for
over the past 20 year the UK has voted in lower and lower taxes and then wondered why services have gone to ratshit

Scandinavia has double the tax and three times the services

America has half the tax and one third the services

TAX TAX TAX TAX
Cough up or shut up

lovelearning · 08/01/2017 17:00

the demand on the service is so huge

On the Today programme last week

Dame Kate Barker argued that pressure on public services is caused by a rising population

TalkinPeace · 08/01/2017 17:02

lovelearning
You misinterpreted her
is the rising AGED population who cost money - 99% of whom are British born by the way

lovelearning · 08/01/2017 17:02

Population causing strain on services

Owllady · 08/01/2017 17:02

Yes I think people are too accepting of how awful things are
Yes think it's awful we are blaming ill people Angry
And no, it's not the staffs fault AT ALL.
But it's been going downhill for ages :( it's being dismantled bit by bit.

Anatidae · 08/01/2017 17:07

Scandinavia has double the tax and three times the services

Care isn't free here - we pay a small fee of about 150-180 kronor (roughly 20 quid?) every time we see a doctor and you're billed per night in hospital or if you visit hospital.
We do pay higher taxes and they see to be better used. There's also a smaller population which I suspect is healthier due to lower alcohol/smoking/less poverty.

But yes. More tax. And that tax spent wisely. More preventative health care. Less inequality

The NHS isn't going to survive. A small number of people will make an absolute fortune when it's broken up and contracts are given out.

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