to think that the NHS is really quite shit and that not everyone who works in it is an underpaid hero?

[Adenosine]

There is a strange British preoccupation with the NHS which I think prevents honest public dialogue about its many shortcomings. At the time it was set up it was innovative, but now there are many other universal healthcare systems most of which are better than the NHS and many of which cost less money.

It's ranked low globally and really quite shit yet few people dare criticise or. AIBU to think that we really need to be far more critical?

Relax yourself.
It's all about to be whipped out from under your nose anyway and parcelled off to American private healthcare.
Then you can pay 200,000 pounds for your next operation, just like the Yanks do.
See how you like them apples.

I'm in Australia now, after living in the UK long enough to go through childbirth and cancer treatment. NHS is great in some ways, and I think it comes well with major illness, but a lot of the niceties are gone.

Booking a GP here is a complete breeze. Same Day, next day. No problem. Most have nurses who will treat you (I recently went to 3 different GPs as I was traveling and need a surgical wound managed, no problems at all). No cost. Also they will send you got scans and blood tests all the time. Mainly free.

Specialists are free with long waits, or pay a bit too see then sooner. If you spend more than $2000 out of pocket a year then a larger safety net kicks in.

We have to have private insurance, but it's only a few $100 a month (and only if you income is above a threshold).

I also told someone that I was in a ward in the UK and they were horrified. Wards!! Only private rooms here! And up to 5 days on hospital for a normal birth. With midwives who will look after the babies for you.

I dunno, it feels like a better balance. It's also where all the British nurses and doctors are if you are looking for them!

Yep it's totally shit and has been for years, but of course we're not allowed to say that or propose a better system that , gasp, you have to pay for🙄

@HouseworkAvoider10

That is Labour propaganda in my honest opinion. They are using the NHS to get more votes.

I think this thread so far kind of proves the OPs point.

There are great elements of the NHS. But the amount of waste within it is absolutely staggering. So much complexity where there need be none which costs an absolute fortune, and hinders people in doing their jobs.

There are some absolutely fantastic staff. There are also some staff who are rude, surly and frankly the polar opposite of caring.

It needs major overhaul but honestly where do you even start?

@helacells

It is not all shit and I should know because I worked for the NHS for many years. There are many good things about the NHS and just throwing money at it won't help it. What it needs is good management to budget and manage the service correctly. As a side note a lot of hospital Managers are ex nurses not just administrators so they will know what the NHS needs.

The health care system in Malta is excellent - it saved my mother's life. I could not fault it.

And it was free (thank you E111)

Have just Wikipedia-d Healthcare in Malta and see they have been revising free healthcare since 1372. Kudos Malta

In 2000, Malta was ranked number five in the World Health Organization's ranking of the world's health systems,[5] compared to the United States (at 37), Australia (at 32), United Kingdom (at 18) and Canada (at 30). The healthcare system in Malta closely resembles the British system,[6] as healthcare is free at the point of delivery

@JolieOBrien it really isn’t labour propaganda, it’s very real and it’s already happening.

The Mater Dei Hospital, Malta's primary hospital, opened in 2007. It has one of the largest medical buildings in Europe

Ah, no wonder I was impressed!

Couldn't believe they had just a large campus hospital on such a small island

The NHS is ranked high globally, not low.
When you look at outcome versus money per patient spent, it is rated #1 globally. So it is the most efficient healthcare system in the world.

It would be #1 across the board if properly funded. I don’t think people realise that the £ per person is very very low. For example the U.K. has the lowest ratio of hospital beds to population and doctors to population in Europe.

The problem with the NHS is that is is not funded well enough and so is too small to serve the current U.K. population. The increased reliance on private contractors instead of increasing base capacity is also very expensive and eats away at efficiency and outcomes.

So yes OP YABU to think the NHS is “shit”. It is far from that.

@SphaghettiSharon

This has been going on for years about selling the NHS off and I should know because I was married to a Hospital Manager who worked in the NHS for over 20 years.

A friend from years back works as a locum in x-ray dept. She has worked as a locum for approximately 7 years, and has no intention of taking a permanent salaried role, because she claims "I like to know where I am with my shifts" and admits the pay is much better.

But what really annoys me is the fact she spouts constantly about how the NHS is struggling and how it needs to be saved. She is the saviour if the nhs. While staying as locum for better money. It infuriates me as she is such an opinionated loud mouth and hugs any conversation as soon as she twigs it is regarding the NHS.

A few days after my dad had died we were chatting as a group and lo and behold she steered the conversation back to the state of the NHS and how it is struggling. Yep, you're right, having to wait for a district nurse to source a syringe driver as they can't afford to purchase more while you take in locum rates sorts of jars

This is interesting

www.photius.com/rankings/healthranks.html

Albeit a bit out of date

Ie WHO document

One of my closest friends is a hospital manager right now. The Tories have had to bide their time as it’s not been a politically acceptable thing to do up until now but since the Brexit vote and the idea that they can do whatever they like now and still get elected, all bets are off.

I used to work on the Bed Board at a major city hospital and we were always short of beds especially in the winter months. Unfortunately patients were sometimes left on trolleys before we could get them a bed on a ward. This is still happening so the NHS needs more hospitals or bigger hospitals and medical staff imho. I have also worked on A and E reception, the pharmacy and medical records. Just for the record.

I work as a nurse in the NhS. It is not perfect, far from it. As with any service there are good staff and bad staff.

I think a proper change in how the service is run is needed. Real collaboration between corporate and clinical and and a removal of the multiple layers of management. Chucking money at it will not fix the problems, it needs to be an entire shift in the culture of the service.

@FormerlyFrikadela01

I agree with your post.

Rankings continued

Interesting stuff

(USA comes as No 37)