To ask what YOU would do to help save the NHS?

[TamiTayorismyparentingguru]

I don’t care if you’re an HCP or not, I don’t care who you vote for, I don’t care what you think about Brexit - all opinions welcome.

Opinions on practical suggestions on how to save the NHS only though.

Our local hospital is getting worse and worse with regards to staff shortages and waiting lists getting longer and longer. I will say that our GP is really great and we’ve never really had a problem with getting appointments etc, but as soon as you are referred to the hospital things go massively downhill. (We did have a GP misdiagnose/miss DH’s cancer which was pretty shit - but I wouldn’t say that was a particular problem with the system - more just one of those unfortunate things that happens, that really shouldn’t happen, but that are just a matter of course.)

The hospital is a different story though - wait lists for some departments are insane (current wait time for an initial cataracts appointment is 42 weeks and then up to 18m for treatment, paediatric dermatology is a min of 30weeks, paediatric podiatry is approx 30weeks also. I have been on a wait list for max fax for 14mths so far. I also had an 8week wait for an appointment at the breast clinic after seeing the GP with a noticeable lump.)

DH has also had to fight for every single appointment since his cancer treatment last year - instead of the 4-weekly appointments he’s meant to have had, most of his appointments have been 7-8 weeks apart and have been cancelled at the last minute (sometimes just an hour before) at least 4 times in the last year.

It’s awful and yet I do trust that the doctors, nurses, receptionists etc etc are all doing everything they possibly can.

What’s the solution?

@Xenia You're missing the point. Add in the cost of travelling to London, you'd be talking about £70 per month. As another poster pointed out, elsewhere they can be done for £3.50. But I know, because my GP told me, the cost to the NHS is 50p. So, it would cost £6 on the NHS per year. So if I live to 80, that's £210 for the rest of my life. How much am I paying into the NHS? Considerably more than that. How much will I cost the NHS if my nervous system continues to weaken and my memory loss gets worse? Considerably more than considerably more! I have an actual medical condition that impacts my daily life that could be sorted for £6 per year.

Now, obviously, if you have infertility issues, that's upsetting. But it does not limit your life. It does not cause other long-term physical issues. But how much does IVF cost the NHS? In 2014 the average cost per round of IVF on the NHS was £3,435.

Don't get me wrong, I am well aware my condition is not as serious as many others. But it cannot be right that the NHS ignores actual physical medical issues that impede your daily life at the cost of fertility treatment which does not.

Basically someone making £80k a year coming to America is going to be mixing with someone from the 50th-60th percentile whereas in the Uk they are in the top 20%. The correlation of obesity and income is known and yes it's very much part of the problem the NHS has to deal with. The American in the 50th percentile is much more likely to be obese compared to the Brit in the 20th percentile. They therefore walk away with a perception that everyone is obese here. They aren't. Come to NYC. It's hard to find nice business clothes in bigger sizes beyond a UK 16 where I live.

And ive seen several posts about patients being discharged at ridiculous times like 3am.

They wouldnt be able to do THAT without family carers.

By the way with regards to Virgincare- our children's services are under Virgincare. Ds has physio, occupational therapy, SALT, confidence, community paeds and school nursing all under Virgincare. It is, and has been since the contract started, an absolute shit show.

helena The discharge practices in the UK are appalling. They tried to discharge my father less than 24 hours after his surgery. I was very clear that he wasn't leaving for at least 36 hours, 48 hours because I wasn't taking him home in the dark. He is over 70 and not in good health with limited mobility. Going home in the dark is completely idiotic. It's a great way to have a fall and end up back in hospital needing additional care.

Formerly - US health insurance companies incentivise healthy living and preventative action. If we were smokers, our insurance premiums would have been $100 a month more each. If we chose not to attend an annual check up (bloods, urine, physical) it would have been $50 a month more. The NHS basically has no capacity to offer this sort of thing (annual check ups lasting nearly an hour) to everyone, even though there would likely be overall savings due to catching preventable issues at an earlier stage

Want2besupermum - and what if you COULDN'T work? Where would that leave you healthcare wise?

Onlyhappywhenitrains1 - yes. GP surgeries and certain outpatient clinics, most in fact closed every bank/public/local holiday sometimes a day or 2 either side too - ridiculous!

And the lack of services over Christmas and new year is a joke! Pisses me off when we start seeing the adverts saying "make sure you've got all the meds you need while your surgery is closed FOR WEEKS ON END AT THE BUSIEST HEALTHCARE TIME OF THE YEAR" absolutely not on! Healthcare is a 24/7, 365 day a year need, to go into that industry expecting AND BEING ABLE TO take more holidays than even people in normal jobs is LUDICROUS!

I'm sure PART of the reason for the spike in January hospital admissions for winter illnesses is BECAUSE people when first ill with chest infections, flu etc CAN'T GET.TREATMENT because the GP can be closed for up to 4 weeks from mid December!

"Funnily enough because people pay for their healthcare most are generally much more diligent about preventative care and leading a healthy lifestyle compared to the UK." Really? USA? Where as far as I was aware there were huge issues with obesity, sedentary lifestyle (several threads on here by Brits who've either holidayed or moved to the states shocked by how little anyone walks ANYWHERE), poor food quality, same drug and alcohol issues as everywhere, poor employment laws meaning employees working with few holidays, lack of maternity leave/pay meaning mothers back at work earlier than is perhaps advisable, low bf rates too I believe (I think partly due to mothers returning to work earlier, due to lack of maternity leave), are Americans really healthier than Brits?

Re childcare issues - I agree that childcare for the whole of uk and families working in ALL industries need childcare that's available outside office hours, why this isn't being dealt with I don't know. But I don't think nhs staff are any worse off than parents in other industries that are 24/7 365, like fire service, police officers, private residential care, social workers, military... Parents in those sectors have to manage under the same constraints.

It seems to me people are expecting to only work 24/7 365 in the nhs when newly qualified and working on wards, when ALL healthcare is arguably round the clock. If you go into healthcare you should expect to work shifts covering all hours, all year round.

Supermum Ridiculous and dangerous.

hazey that does not surprise me at all.

"And the lack of services over Christmas and new year is a joke! Pisses me off when we start seeing the adverts saying "make sure you've got all the meds you need while your surgery is closed FOR WEEKS ON END AT THE BUSIEST HEALTHCARE TIME OF THE YEAR"

Yep And then the surgery wont issue the scripts until the last minute anyway (e,g, 23rd Dec) so what if the pharmacy does not have what you need. You arent going to be able to take the adverts advice

Weird idea perhaps, but I've always thought they should have collecting tins in hospitals and surgeries...so completely voluntary like a charity collection really. I'm sure plenty of people who can afford it and have received great treatment would happily throw in a quid or two.

They'd have to make them incredibly secure so no one would steal or commit a crime to have access to the money... perhaps even like a hole in the wall where the money could go down a tube to a secure vault.

Shatner aren't I though getting the point. You could spent £70 a month to help ensure you are healthier when older which benefits you and benefits other tax payers and the NHS But you are choosing not to ( am assuming here you are well enough to take on an extra saturday job etc to earn that £70 of course).

user145 I completely agree. It's staggering to me - a patient will be getting a free organ transplant (and will almost certainly not have "paid for it through taxes") and yet wouldn't put themselves out (financially or otherwise) to get to the hospital. I'd have begged, borrowed or stolen if necessary.

Graphista If we couldn't work and didn't have disability insurance we would spend down our money on healthcare needed and eventually we would qualify for Medicaid. As we have disabled DC, if we earned less than $200k a year as a household we would qualify for Medicaid. As it is we earn more and believe it fraudulent to take from those who need it. We are now low or middle income and it's not smart to use a program meant for those who can't afford a necessary service.

Yes I'd be in section 8 housing or a state run assisted living facility but I wouldn't be homeless. It's also why I have disability insurance. I'd prefer not to be in section 8 housing! I pay $950 a year to have an after tax income of $120k should I become disabled. Upon stopping work I would pay the premium for my healthcare which is $1800 a month for a family and copayments max out at $5k a year. On $120k income until I'm 65 from disability insurance chances are I'm ok financially to pay for this.

Now....not. Autocorrect

I would happily pay more taxes to fund the nhs.

Good to know you wouldnt mind being stolen from truwarrior.

Some people just do not have it or have to choose between a rock and a hardplace like we did with DHs rehabilitation course.

formerbabe - I agree. I know several people who have had life saving treatment on the NHS and I'm exceptionally grateful that they were able to have it without it costing them a (direct) penny. I would very happily give cash to the hospitals where they were treated so that others would have the same opportunities in the future. I often see FB appeals for donations to relevant charities (cancer research, Tommys etc) but never for donations to the NHS itself. I'm not even sure it's possible

Reduce the prevalence and severity of malocclusion (crooked teeth) through early years education that would cost almost nothing.

NHS spending on primary care orthodontics is currency over £250,000,000 a year and rising. And then there is the cost of orthognastic surgery, TMJ dysfunction, Obstructive Sleep Apnoea and other health conditions associated with craniofacial dystrophy. OSA is linked to ADHD, which suggests kids with a physical health problem are being treated with psychoactive drugs. There are a few papers on it here:

preventcrookedteeth.com
buteyko.info/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Abnormal_facial_growth_and_mouth_breathing.pdf

And free resources on improving breathing here:
buteykoclinic.com/buteykochildren/

I think craniofacial dystrophy is a hidden epidemic costing the tax payer more than we can even imagine.

Exactly Helena plus it makes pharmacies crazy busy at a time of year they're ALREADY busier due to winter illnesses - appalling organisation.

Want2besupermum - almost all you've said there is possible BECAUSE you're currently working AND earning enough to do all that! What happens to adults in USA who've never worked due to ill health or only in low paid jobs? Who I presume don't have disability insurance and CERTAINLY couldn't afford $1800 a month! Sorry but I've seen numerous news and journalistic reports on how the poor, inc the working poor in USA DON'T get healthcare. Family & friends back this up and are TERRIFIED of losing jobs primarily because of the healthcare coverage because they see regularly first hand how bad it is if you're not covered by an employee or private arrangement. And even if you do have insurance, there's no guarantee they'll pay out as is often the case even here insurance companies do their best to avoid paying out.

Triwarrior - what a cruel flippant response regarding people who ARE having to "beg borrow or steal" for BASIC necessities due to this govts punitive policies. Where I live a 90 min taxi would be about £80 - that's 2 weeks food shopping! That is NOT money I have to spare! If that patient is in the middle of the MINIMUM 5 WEEKS "assessment period" they have NO money coming in except POSSIBLY DLA/pip IF they're lucky - often when you are switched to UC that gets messed up too! And as is usually the case, most poor people are surrounded by more poor people - their friends/family don't always HAVE it to lend them!

This is the REALITY of uk in 2018.

@Xenia Did you not read where I said I am already paying for pills, which although not AS effective as injections? It's not about that! It's about the NHS paying for things like cosmetic surgery and IVF are vast sums of money which are not related to a medical condition that impedes healthy, daily life.

Oh, and as for my personal finances, I earn £20k per year and often work some evenings and some Saturdays already.

I've already said, the NHS needs a root and branch reorganisation but no Govt will do it. It's not just about more tax going into it.

@Xenia - the question is do you think the NHS should be spending its CURRENT limited funding on things like IVF and cosmetic surgery over things that effect and impede daily life or could cause huge problems to the NHS in the future? I only used my condition as an example and I also said compared to many other things it's not as serious. It's not about ME. It's about the situation that the NHS will pay for things that it was never designed to do and that some of the spending is on things that have no impact on people carrying out a healthy daily existence but not spending on things that DO.

It is TOTALLY unfair on the pharmacies. DH has a long list of medication and a lovely young woman in our local Boots last Christmas went above and beyond chasing and chasing our surgery to make sure it was ready in time before the Christmas break.

But its not fair to those who work in pharmacies. It causes them more stress at work.

Graphista Then they go to social security disability, healthcare cover by Medicaid and housing in section 8. They are taken care of. It's not that there are no programs in place. It's just that the programs provide only the very basics.

In short i think what Shatner is trying to say is that its the NHS spending a thousand pounds to save a fiver.

Hope thats ok to post Shatner.

I'm grateful for the treatment that I've had over the years, but I've no idea why some of them are even there. They wander about slowly, smiling, & have time to chat to other staff members, but God forbid should you dare to ask them anything. I've met some wonderful staff, but the majority need a good kick up the arse. Get rid of them!

Helena Stealing wouldn't be necessary. I'd give a stranger the cab fare to a hospital if there was lifesaving surgery waiting at the end. As would most people, I suspect.