If you can afford to pay for an NHS Treatment you should

[autumnglow]

Or at least consider it. My friend was forever moaning about her MIL (hip) op being canx and saying it wasnt fair and complaining about the NHS. I know the MIL has 4 children all comfortably off - not rich by any means. It did make me think why don't you all club together and go private. If you've got the means then why not?

But how much funding is adequat funding?
When the entire economy becomes the NHS?
Or when we have a two class soceity, those who work for the NHS, some of whom are extremely well paid.. and the rest who work to pay for the NHS?

Paying extra VAT to help fund the NHS as suggested up thread is not a good idea. VAT is a regressive tax - the poorer pay proportionately more VAT than richer folk. If additional funds are to be raised through taxes the only way to ensure it is not regressive is to add a 1% or so onto income tax.

totallypearshaped your system
In Ireland sounds much worse than what we currently have in the NHS even given funding issues. Paying all that money and still having to wait two years to see a dentist?

Not rtft so apologies if someone has already said this, but private hospitals have a tendency to cream off the easy cases - the ones that they can get back on their feet really quickly leaving the complex ones for the NHS which has a double benefit for them in not costing as much and making their results look more impressive. And let's not forget that if anything unexpected goes wrong you'll find yourself back in NHS land quicker than you can imagine. Personally I think the solution is twofold -higher taxes and people using it appropriately. Don't go to a and e because you are drunk, or were too busy to go to your gp. Don't be abusive to your gp if they refuse to prescribe antibiotics for your cold. Don't demand a prescription for something like paracetamol you can buy over the counter and so on

Well, if I paid directly for treatment, I would expect to be treated before those who didn't directly pay.

"Don't go to a and e because you are drunk, or were too busy to go to your gp."

I've never heard of anyone choosing a and e because they're too busy to see a gp - does that happen? I think recent threads on mn suggest it's the other way round though - in some cases it's because people can't get an immediate gp appointment that they go to a and e.

That there is ineffeciancy in the NHS is clear. That there is also abuse and waste by patients is also clear. Perhaps people should be charged if they miss an appointment? In istld that is not contrary to the NHs ethos of free treatment. You would have had free treatment, but you don't have the right to waste a doctors time. .. Obvously there would need to be some system for genuine cases.

Itsnoteasybeingdifferent If you're going to claim that those who suffer from obesity are the cause of the flaws in the NHS then let's throw those with other eating disorders into the mix, anorexics/bulimics.

By your ignorant theory we'd also need to proportion blame on those who do extreme sports causing damage to their joints, road traffic victims because a driver didn't slow down enough on an icy morning and ended up smashing into a tree, pregnant women because in fairness they inflicted it on themselves too, the list is endless.

A percentage of people with Type 2 diabetes are a "normal" weight by the way; I suppose you're the kind of person who stigmatises lung cancer sufferers because they did it to themselves in your opinion - People with HIV/AIDS, heart issues, mental health problems, you'd have a fine old time refusing treatment to a whole lot of people if you were in charge of the NHS purse strings.

You have a very black and white view of the world, I can only assume you must have lead a very sheltered life.

ANYONE who requires medical treatment should receive it, there are no ifs, buts or maybes about it and in response to the original OP question yes you are being unreasonable!

If you're going to claim that those who suffer from obesity are the cause of the flaws in the NHS then let's throw those with other eating disorders into the mix, anorexics/bulimics.

Obesity is not an eating disorder.

but its not just extreme sports.
ballerinas should be included. for example.
anythign you do that your body wasnt designed to do causes wear and tear which may need treatment.

Absolutely not. I've clawed my way from a 1 bed council house so damp it had mushrooms on the walls with no benefits and no state funded education beyond GCSE and now find myself having paid 40% tax for over a decade.

This year I will drop to SMP and will have no entitlement to ANY benefit. I am fast becoming fed up of being taxed to the point of breaking and getting nothing back.

Under your system. When I return to work. And fight my way back to a decent wage (gov aren't super supportive to professional mothers either) if a relative needs medical care then they will be asked if I could pay? You are suggesting that I should be means tested????

No thank you.

So we shouldn't treat

• people who are fat
• people who,have ever smoked
• people who drink alcohol
• people who do high risk activities
• car drivers
• people who do too much sport
• children whose parents refuse vaccinations
• people with lung cancer, cervical cancer, endometrial cancer, skin cancer
• motorists. motorcyclist, horse riders, cyclists

Must be more self induced illness - NHS is going to be pretty cheap to run!

Ooh and cooks who use sharp knives and people with bad lifting techniques.

Only read the op.
I think I pay for NHS from my taxes. Unless the government decreases the taxes, I have no problem blaming NHS for any delayed treatment. I would probably get a lot out of private medical insurance if I pay for that instead of nearly half the salary of my family. So YADBU.

Haha sqills, our bodies are far better designed for most sports than they are for sitting in sofas. So we won't be treating any of the "self inflicted" illnesses that causes or the bad backs that arise from poor posture....it's a very long list

People who enjoy sports might get injuries but they cost the NHS far less than inactive people

Figure
Yes! Add to this the alcohol, overeating and smoking related illnesses and you literally save NHS.
I absolutely resent the cost to the government regarding these and I think they should bring in some kind of measures that ensure that from now on, if the causative factor is one of the above, NHS would either not pay or pay very little/life saving only treatment.

I have been feeling rubbish for years, been fobbed off constantly by my GP even though I've sat in his office and cried. I couldn't live like it anymore so last week I paid £140 to see a private GP and was diagnosed with depression.

My entire healthcare including GP is private.

I don't begrudge paying twice over. I don't want to live in a country like America or India where someone's child could die not because they're critically ill but because they can't afford medical treatment.

I did feel very vulnerable having private treatment for mental health problems and I was definitely financially exploited during my IVF. I have never had doubts about the integrity of NHS doctors in the same way, although their inexperience was one of the reasons I chose private medical treatment as soon as I could afford it.

It would cost some people an awful lot of money, even if they were rich their money wouldn't last long. An elderly lady I know had her knees done privately, twice, the op failed both times. So it didn't do her much good.

I reecntly had an abdominal hysterectomy privately - several consultant appointments before the procedure, MRI, fairly lengthy op, three nights in hospital, anaesthetist charges, physio, follow-up.

Insurance company covered it, but had I paid myself, it would have been £10k. It's a LOT of money.

I think there are other ways of better making the NHS efficient and cutting waiting lists than expecting people to go private, things like charging for missed appointments.

It depends on the circumstances. The major operations are very expensive, and like previous posters have put, we pay for NHS through our taxes. If the person felt they didn't want to wait for NHS operations then yes, go private and its a bit quicker.
benefit mums who get prescribed paracetamol cos they don't want to 19p in home bargains for it, well don't get me started

Insurance company covered it, but had I paid myself, it would have been £10k. It's a LOT of money.

See, this is what annoys me when people (not you) say they'll use the NHS all they want because they've 'paid for it' and it's their right.

An average woman having dental care, a couple of hospital births, contraception, mammograms and cervical screening, a hysterectomy, prescriptions, GP appointments, a hip replacement and end of life care would soon see the 'bill' mount up to more than they've actually paid in during their working life through NI.

No six, you can see a dentist for an emergency appointment that day, but if you're not eligible for free dental visits and treatments, or don't have dental insurance, you pay.

If you're pregnant or the birth is 6months ago (that is still in maternity pay) you have a fee appointment. And everyone who pays their ni equivalent is entitled to a free dental check upand hygienist appointment every year, and every second year.

If you're in pain and have less than 36€K a year, you are seen immediately by a dentist on the general medical card scheme. They schedule you in early in the morning or late if they are booked.

All medicines are free if you are eligible for a medical card (means tested).
No one pays over 170€ per month for any medicines, so IVF meds for eg are free once you pay the 170€

If you earn over 36€k you need health and dental insurance. It's about 1€k for each package, and is tax deductible. All medical and dental procedures are tax deductible at the rate you pay tax.

Children are seen free until they are 6yo for medical and dental issues. All vaccines and child checkups and baby developmental clinics are free. All people over 70 are seen free by the GP, irrespective of means.

Going private with insurance means no waiting on a list, and you are seen by the same doctors who work in the public clinics and hospitals. The care is identical.

GPs are not afraid to tell patients to lose weight, and regularly weigh patients as part of the scan, BP BMI etc. It's all on your medical record. Some GPs can prescribe exercise and have free gym membership in some areas. They send patients off for a class together.

For addictions, there are state sponsored free programmes to quit smoking and alcohol, and methadone clinics to get people off heroin. Every chemist can dispense methadone.

Recovering addicts are treated respectfully, ime, and there are free needle schemes and mobile injecting rooms for those still using, and where homeless addicts can receive medical attention, a sandwich and a cuppa.

It's quite compassionate really, and geared to get people back into their communities, healthy and working.

You dont need to pay for private healthcare; just donate that money to the NHS.