Apparently if the NHS is privatised we wont have to pay for medicine.

[malificent7]

So says my Tory dad. Is he right?

If private companies get contracts and people are not happy with the care they receive, they should complain and those companies, if they get a lot of complaints will surely lose the contract?

Yes, because it's worked so well with the railways, hasn't it?

Daisy there's a big difference between PFIs, contracted out service provision, and private medicine where patients are billed directly.

In my area Care UK are providing outpatient and day surgery care in a clean, efficient, cost effective and timely manner. This then frees up secondary care to provide the complex, complicated care needed to those that need it. SpecSavers are providing ophthalmic care to local populations in a far superior manner than the hospital is, and at less cost to the NHS than the existing provision.

All this fearmongering of "the NHS is going to be privatised" is just ridiculous. There has been no suggestion by any of the political parties that I've seen that will be expecting patients to pay for their care at the point of delivery. The NHS needs an overhaul but it's a political hot potato as no politician has the guts to suggest it.

Our local wheelchair services became privatised many years ago.

Some children wait up to 3 years for a wheelchair.

Yes, it's still free. But no - privatisation doesn't always improve service

I don't believe for a second that the NHS has costs of $50,000 for an appendectomy, no.

No but if it was done by a private company they would be billing for a profit, not running at cost or even a loss

Peregrina it's a monopoly. I can only "choose" to go private for certain things - all full service hospitals are NHS-run. For a list of reasons why this is a bad idea, see GCSE Economics

And that tree is hilarious - what do its creators believe is the average mental age of a Labour voter? And that constitutes "fully costed"? Please stop, my sides....

Absolutely, stepping, I agree - that wasn't the question though

OP, tell your dad you've heard there's no point in Tory voters leaving home on Election Day cos May has it all sewn up.

It's still better costed than the Tory manifesto (I.e. Not at all)

Finn we rent...we are saving for a house of our own but by then our incomes should be larger.

Your dad needs his head pulling out of his arse imo

Your dad needs his head pulling out of his arse imo

Is he one if those idiots ( looking at you sfil) who voted Brexit to " stop the Muslims" ?

The debate, surely, is not whether that is the cost of an appendectomy, but that, despite insurance, wiltingfast still had $11k to pay. How many people could find that sort of money for a basic, but lifesaving operation? Very few people that I know have that money available, yet non of them are considered low earners, so would not be eligible for full payment. What if you are facing a bill for cancer? There are many in USA that have been made bankrupt and homeless by being unable to meet their health bills. They have to raise funds by begging on crowdfunding websites. Is this how we, as a nation, wish to be judged?

Yes and I bet he also thinks that we now have a brilliantly competitive, tightly run rail service providing great value for money now it's been privatised so all the nationalised wastage has beeen cut

Badbunny- why did you access exactly the same service twice?

As per my post, self and partner - two different experiences.

Well the "socialised" NHS an epipen costs $69 whereas if you are in the "privatised" USA users have to pay $600
www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-09-29/epipen-s-69-cost-in-britain-shows-other-extreme-of-drug-pricing-itnvgvam

IN most other systems you have to pay actual costs up to a limit or co-pay a specified amount

Let me guess...

Does he also say that he doesn't beleive we have an issue with poverty in this country, because "all the poor people he knows are rich?"
I know a few people who think along those lines. Trying to argue with them is almost impossible, because they are impervious to logic.

I wouldn't want any system that puts people off seeking treatment for minor complaints - because sometimes those minor complaints turn into serious (and much more expensive) problems,which will cost us all more, however its payed for.

The Naylor report contains alot of common sense although I can see that in some circumstances it would be a worry that a recently closed facility would be sold off when it is really needed but not currently funded. However, if I think of the site I work on which also has an ols asylum converted into luxury flats, there are endeless bits of land and delapitated buildings not used for anything and not needed for anything. They could all be sold off for much needed housing and the money put to better use. There is no use the NHS holding on to pockets of land that they do not need.

Lunde

As well as that huge disparity in drug cost you're talking about, patients don't actually pay anything like $69 for their EpiPens in the U.K. either. If you pay for prescriptions each time (some people use pre-payment cards & others don't pay at all) you would be charged £8.40 for all the EpiPens you got at one time, so following good practice in prescribing guidelines, most people would get their EpiPens for £4.20 each (or less if they're someone who gets a further spare to be kept in a first aid box at work etc). At the current exchange rate our prescription charge is about $10.83 - so assuming pretty much everyone gets 2 EpiPens at a time as they're supposed to, people in the States are paying 111 times more than they are. Which is completely fecking insane, frankly.

I don't pay for my prescriptions. Which is lucky, given my monthly repeat has 20+ things on it. I'm always very aware of how much those drugs are costing the NHS. Lots of them are VERY expensive. There had to be a special meeting for me to be allowed to be prescribed one of my medications - it's less expensive than my having to take up residence as a hospital inpatient though, as well as better for my quality of life. I rely on my medication mountain to be able to just about function & dread to think what would happen if I wasn't able to afford medication...

Apparently VAT is the same thing as the poll tax ( my dad is very knowledgable about economics you see. ) he also says Eurooe introduced VAT. Is he still talking bollocks?
He was defending Margaret Thatcher.

No political party is proposing getting rid of the NHS so your father can think about that as an idea but it should not be affecting his voting unless he has listened to Labour propaganda. The Tories support the NHS.

Maleficient7 - Yes VAT was introduced in 1973 when we joined Europe, but it replaced Purchase Tax so no a new thing per se.