to be worried about "4% tax rises every year for 15 years just to keep the nhs functioning at its current level"

[traciebanbanjo]

According to a think tank. But even if it's only 1/4 of that it's still a huge amount. I don't know how I would ever affod that much.

And they say that's just to keep it at its current level. It's the main headline on LBC and in all the papers.

I'm very worried about coming tax rises

You would be even more worried if the NHS became privatised.

The NHS is unsustainable in its current form. Something radical has to happen. I suspect the blanket free treatment won't last much longer.

Ridiculous proposal, the NHS just needs running properly, more money is not going to solve the problem.

NHS has had privatised elements since the 90s though?

France and the rest of Europe seem to have a much better health service.

The NHS needs a radical overhaul. It isn't fit for purpose at the moment. If some elements of that are sold off, so be it . It's evolved into a monster, nothing like it was designed for.

Yes there will be a lot of people unfamiliar with paying larger %'s of anything. The nation is used to everything being low. Let's hope interest rates don't rise too.

That said, I need the NHS so I'd be happy to pay more.

It defo needs reform & I would stomach a small rise that was ringfenced. However as someone in my 30s my fear would be Id pay more & it still wouldn’t exist in 20 years.

Some people don't bother with travel insurance and set up 'go fund me' etc when something goes wrong. Imagine if people had to have health insurance?!

The NHS would run very well if the current government wanted it to, but they would rather present the narrative that it doesn't work any more so we should privatise it.

Taxes used to be a lot higher than they are now.

You could always move to France or elsewhere in Europe. Do you know what tax rates are in other countries?

I'm not sure it is all lies that the NHS is badly run, it seems to have been underfunded for decades long before the current government got in.

The NHS is a ridiculous, unsustainable system. It needs a major overhaul. The UK should be looking to their neighbours, both in Europe and abroad (Australia, particularly) for systems which are similar but working much more efficiently.

Also, people need to accept it's not feasible, long-term, for everything to be subsidised or free at the point of use. This goes for prescriptions and GP appointments, particularly.

Our government pay less per person into the NHS than most countries do into their healthcare system (including the US, France & Germany). I'm happy to pay more tax earmarked for the NHS than to end up paying twice as much for a private system that discriminates against pregnant/cancer survivors/depressed people or who won't start treatment without an insurance companies say so.
Would prefer the French system though with a small amount paid for appointments and one where private companies weren't able to sue if they lose a contract (virgin) or underbid, get paid and then shut down leaving the NHS to pick up the pieces.

It's going to keep needing more and more money. There is so much waste and inefficiency above the hands on clinical healthcare that it's just heartbreaking. I will keep fighting for it because I believe in it, but it's become a cash cow for many office based people.

Justanothernameonthepage totally agree about the French system, the government pays more per head and people contribute and people are happy to do so. It's really time people got rid of the expectation of free at point of use, it's killing it IMO.

My ex partner is French, but is now a British citizen and pays UK tax but still prefers to go "home" to get health care as he can get what he needs in a day rather than months and lots of appointments in the UK

I wonder why we are constantly being presented with the idea that the NHS is so unfit for purpose when as recently as last summer it was ranked the best healthcare system in the world (Research carried out by Commonwealth fund in the US of eleven wealthy nations). It came top largely because of its efficiency and affordability, despite being squeezed financially.

When you look at the GDP spent it is under funded and has been for a long time so that will take ages to rectify. Other developed countries pay much more into their health through taxation than we do then people have to pay a separate insurance on top of that so we are not even close to being on a level playing field and there is no reason to expect that if we moved to a private insurance based system the taxes would be any lower.

There's a second issue of advancing treatment though, there have been amazing developments in diagnosis, drugs and treatments that mean we can save people we couldn't years ago but all these things cost money. Who pays that money? Is it only those who can pay privately who can have these services or should it be covered under a universal service?

UK taxes overall are a fair bit lower than our competitor nations - western EU for example. ie when you combine income tax/VAT/and all other taxes.
Maybe an extra 1% each on income tax wouldn't be a bad thing if the money went straight to the NHS.

But I don't get why privatisation is seen as such a demon.

Depends on the type of privatisation Herat. Western European style not so bad. US style - terrible.

The trouble with comparing what we pay to what is paid in France for example is that generally we have a higher cost of living in the UK for housing & transport & I think the average wage is similar.

True children.

And there is a part of me that believes it doesn’t matter how much we throw at it, it still won’t be enough. There is waste (procurement) & mismanagement plus we need to do something re social care.

"but they would rather present the narrative that it doesn't work any more so we should privatise it"

Be careful with your assumptions. The innovators of privatisation were Labour in the Blair years. Under Corbyn, this wouldn't happen, but if New Labour reasserted itself then expect extensive change.

Basically, the electorate seems happy with the break up of the NHS as long as it's not done by Tories, and all of Whitehall/Westminster knows that. So we 'need' a Labour government, of the New Labour persuasion, next. Because no-one has any better ideas of how to cope with the demographic bulge.

That saying, too many chiefs and not enough Indians definitely comes in to play in the NHS!! Too many highly paid, pen pushing idiots running it!!

The proposal is not 4% tax increase each year for 14 years. The analysis suggests that we need to increase spending on the NHS by 4% year on year for 15 years if we want to improve the service.
We spend much less on the NHS than all of the alternative systems that people point to cost. US healthcare spending per person is three times what we spend on the NHS, for example.
Also, these figures have been released today to give May leverage in arguing with cabinet that NHS spending must increase. It will not increase by 4%.