What should be free but isn't

[mummyrabbitpeppapig]

I'll start. Sanitary protection and condoms.

A safe place to sleep.

Basic sanitary products & loo roll (and if you want to spend more, you can)
Medication for chronic conditions (ones that last a lifetime)
Eye tests
Dental check ups (then maybe have the 3 tier price for treatment after the initial check up)
Parking in hospitals, esp those which are out of town and don't need a parking charge to stop shoppers parking there. No one is in hospital by choice.

Certain types of food for children/people with food allergies.

NHS prescriptions need a total reform.

Yup. I'm a high earner. I have hypothyroidism, so not only do I not have to pay for Thyroxine (I do pay, and get bemused looks every time), I'm exempt from paying for every other medication I might need with a medical exemption card (??). Meanwhile the next person in the queue has to pay for the same.

Can't get my head around going to the GP for paracetamol. It's about 16p in Tesco

A million YYs to water. It falls from the freeking sky. I loathe detest dispise paying for it

Well you can always just put a water butt outside and drink it. It's just that purifying it and making it fit to drink does cost money.

I don't like the reference to "useful" degrees, though. Who would decide that?

To be fair for those on regular prescriptions the pre pay certificates work out about £10 per month don't they? So in the grand scheme of things not a lot for most people

Suncream should definitely be free for children. Under 18s should be given it on prescription.

wicker sorry but my mum's (ex, for this reason) regular pharmacist did this to her when she was very ill and picking up a prescription and he was totally out of line. The reason my mum takes a certain branded medication is because she has tried generic and they make her ill. She has a consultants letter to say to prescribe her the branded version. The pharmacist stood her in front of the shop and lectured her on how much she was "costing the nhs". She is a full time carer for 2 people also, so actually saves the NHS thousands. It's not the pharmacists place.

wicker sorry but my mum's (ex, for this reason) regular pharmacist did this to her when she was very ill and picking up a prescription and he was totally out of line. The reason my mum takes a certain branded medication is because she has tried generic and they make her ill. She has a consultants letter to say to prescribe her the branded version. The pharmacist stood her in front of the shop and lectured her on how much she was "costing the nhs". She is a full time carer for 2 people also, so actually saves the NHS thousands. It's not the pharmacists place.

In-halers

Also you don't always have to pay for parking in hospitals
When DD was a baby she had meningitis and was in hospital for a month, I buzzed the little button on the ticket machine and spoke to the attendant and asked him how do I pay for that length of time without leaving her every hour to redo my ticket? He told me to put a note in my windscreen that my baby was in hospital and no-one would ticket me - and they didn't
I've also dumped my car in the hospital car park and ran into A&E with a baby with his thumb hanging off, was taken in an ambulance to another hospital and came back for my car the next day, I had a ticket, I appealed it and won due to the circumstances
So it begs the question of why there are even ticket machines in place in hospitals at all really

Children's hospitals and A&E car parks should be free at least

Further and higher education for qualification into those fields considered to be "reserved professions" in wartime. I.e.: the jobs we need to keep the country running.

proper, useful degrees

What are those and how/by whom would that be defined?

I think education including uni should be free –it's an investment for the whole of society.

Childcare should be free or more affordable.

Prescriptions for long-term conditions.

Loos in stations etc, especially if they're dirty/smelly/messy like the ones at Paddington always are.

I've sometimes wondered about making public transport free

Not cross-country trains etc. But buses on crucial routes around cities and rural areas.

I largely drive because even accounting for petrol, tax, insurance etc. it's cheaper than public transport.

If it were free, I wonder if more people would be likely to take public transport, thereby reducing the amount of cars on the road so reducing emissions, accidents, etc. People might also walk a bit more to get to nearby bus stops. I wonder if there might be overall public spending savings via health costs. On the odd occasion I do get on a bus, they always seem to be full of the elderly (free bus passes?)

Perhaps this is a utopian vision though!

None would be 'free' as they would be paid from our own taxes - when the NHS was launched it was clear it was not a charity but something we pay into and benefit from. Anyway, these would be be mine:

Water fountains in public places (would reduce plastic if everyone knew they could re-fill easily)
Public transport in urban areas with pollution problems
Education
Healthcare

All of these are done elsewhere so are clearly doable

I don't like the reference to "useful" degrees, though. Who would decide that?

Having benefited from "free" education myself, I have always felt that education and learning are never wasted.

For myself, I would be happy that people can study for free for as long as they are able to demonstrate a benefit ... which (to me) is showing they have a good chance of attaining whatever qualification level they can.

Put simply, if you can convince a university you can pass a doctorate, then the study for it should be free. Revise down for Masters, Degree, etc. Until you reach the accepted baseline ... GCSEs ? A-Levels ?

Yup ST's, nappies, and uni education - but only if you have grade C and above in your A levels, no-one is allowed in with 5 grade E's, (or utter fails,) just because the uni wants to fill the places. Only free for good A level results.

Not everyone access uni through A levels though. I've never done an A level in my life and I'm off to a very good uni (Russell Group) in September.

Dental care should be more affordable, as should things like eye tests and glasses.

Education for ALL, including testing for learning difficulties where a child is struggling before they become 2 years behind.

Asthma prescriptions

Westlaw/Lexus.

Papers published by institutions receiving public support.

Hospital car parking.

I'm really shocked by the CF prescription issue. Surely if it's a lifelong condition and others are awarded free prescriptions for life them so should CF sufferers. Lifelong should be just that regardless of what life expectancy is :(

do you have any idea how many GP appointments are wasted with people who know their child has a cold but want free paracetamol

Bearing in mind what a hassle it is to get an appointment and wait and be seen by a doctor for something that costs like 50p I'm assuming those people can't actually afford it. Make it easier to get from a pharmacist for free

If something is free in some parts of the UK, then it should be free everywhere else too.