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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To rant because this NHS is not a charity

231 replies

Monty27 · 27/04/2020 04:13

Wtf is all this about having to donate to a service that is national.
The clue is in the name:
NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE
and breathe 😭

OP posts:
IAmLegendaryExtra · 27/04/2020 04:16

Please say it louder for the people at the back...I don’t get it either.

GlummyMcGlummerson · 27/04/2020 04:17

But it does have charitable status I believe. People could always donate to specific wards, it's always been common to run a marathon etc for cancer wards by the family and friends of those treated.

Original poster
Monty27 · 27/04/2020 04:19

I don't have a klaxon @16IAmLegendaryExtra I'm afraid. It's just astounding. Thank you for agreeing. There's hope out there Sad

OP posts:
SD1978 · 27/04/2020 04:20

Because the amount given to the NHS from taxes does not sustain the amount of money it's using. It's a dream that needs to end, or at least be seriously overhauled. The new NHS can not survive on the original principles, and yet still tries to. We need a system similar to Australia. Private health is obligatory over the age of 30 and as long as you earns certain amount. You are taxed extra otherwise, but only if you can afford it. Road tax is put towards finding cate for people after car accidents. It's a public system that works so much better.

Original poster
Monty27 · 27/04/2020 04:21

@17GlummyMcGlummerson please stop and read my post.
Wtf has charity got to do with our NHS?

OP posts:
TKAAHUARTG · 27/04/2020 04:24

The NHS can only accept donations for certain things because, as you say, it is not a charity. However if people want to contribute towards things like, say, iPads, so that isolating or dying patients can be in contact with their loved ones. Crack the fuck on I say. Maybe look into this a bit more? I don’t think that funds should be diverted from essential care towards such things, so why can’t people donate towards extras? I live in NY, where hospitals are FOR PROFIT and yet people still donate for the non-medical extras.

Original poster
Monty27 · 27/04/2020 04:26

It's not a dream and it doesn't need to end Angry
Jeez I despair.
See the original concept of the NHS.
I'm not that well educated but I know and believe in the birth of the NHS. I did it for my O Level history when I was 15.
IT.IS.NOT.A.CHARITY

OP posts:
BullshitVivienne · 27/04/2020 04:28

I'm not sure why you're so angry?

GlummyMcGlummerson · 27/04/2020 04:30

please stop and read my post.

I did read your post and don't understand your problem.

Wtf has charity got to do with our NHS?

Because it's not inconceivable to think "Hey, I was treated by the stroke unit and the staff were amazing, I use an exercise bike on the ward as part of my physio, it really helps but they only have 2 on the ward and could do with more - I'm going to run/shave my head/Morris dance for 6 hours to raise money so they can do that. Yes NHS is taxpayer funded but this wars is close to my heart and there is no capital budget that could otherwise fund these bikes."

The fact is there is a huge amount of equipment funded by charitable means that benefit patients, and why should people have the choice of donating that why? Wether it's pre-COVID or during?

TheStuffWasBad · 27/04/2020 04:31

You are right. The NHS is not, of itself, a charity.

There are charities within the NHS. The money is going to them, to support the work of the NHS.

HTH. I did post a link that explains but I'm not sure you read it.

GlummyMcGlummerson · 27/04/2020 04:32

Very good and well that you did the birth of the NHS for your O-Level history OP, but things have changed exponentially since 1958, our population, economy, health needs etc and inevitably the NHS has had to adapt. That includes accepting donations. I honestly don't see what's so shocking about that?

Original poster
Monty27 · 27/04/2020 05:45

@32GlummyMcGlummerson Grin
Oh I taste sarcasm in your hissy post
@28BullshitVivienne im not angry I'm disappointed that I got only got a B mind.
But you don't know what I do now do you? Smile
If I can manage a budget I can't see why extraordinary people can't run an organisation.
@24TKAAHUARTG low paid people manage to budget for suchlike. On tight incomes.
As you were Brew

OP posts:
GlummyMcGlummerson · 27/04/2020 05:59

OP you aren't tagging people properly you're somehow putting numbers in front of their names.

And there was absolutely no sarcasm in my posts - just because I don't agree with you it doesn't make them "hissy" - I am merely pointing out why people can make charitable donations and that types of things those donations buy.

Other things that I know our local Trust has been able to buy through donations:

Machines for radiotherapy (one cost £1 million as was raised by huge efforts over a number of years from a local group of cancer survivors)
X-ray equipment
Equipment for stroke patients (such as the bike mentioned)
Money to redecorate cancer wards
Toys, iPads and TVs for children's ward
Equipment to increase capacity in SCBU
Preemie clothing for babies admitted to SCBU
Upgraded treadmills for physiotherapy
Beds and furniture for parents who's children are receiving long term treatment

This is all stuff that wouldn't be budgeted for otherwise. Sometimes NHS budgets cover wages and essentials and that's it. It's not ideal, but it's the way it is, and the above are seen as "nice to haves" rather than essentials.

Maybe if you actually told us why you're so annoyed about it that might help?

Cheeseycheeseycheesecheese · 27/04/2020 05:59

I can't get worked up about you saying the NHS isn't a charity and shouldn't need donations, in itself no it isn't, but it does have charities within.

Also it's nice to do good things, like @GlummyMcGlummersons example, people recieve care, they want to pay it forward, so they raise money for a 3rd exercise bike.

It's also better, don't you think for the departments to focus their funding, so to continue the example, they spend the money on the physiotherapists that are in the ward helping the patients rather than a 3rd exercise bike so that they can direct the funding towards more physios and then we could have more patients being helped at one time?

More money being spent in the right/sensible areas is better, no?

Nquartz · 27/04/2020 06:06

What do donations do you have a problem with? Is it the iPads/food/money for equipment, or the money raised on just giving etc?

If it is the latter, then people aren't donating to the NHS per se, it is the charities linked above who support in various ways. I've noticed a lot of people fund raising/donating to that charity saying they are donating to the NHS but it's almost shorthand because the money they donate isn't going to pay nurses wages for eg.

Or is it that you're annoyed people are saying they're donating to the NHS when technically they aren't?

Changeofname79 · 27/04/2020 06:07

The NHS was not created to provide what it does not, you should know this if you have studied it presumably. It is not sustainable as it currently is, it provides way more than basic healthcare now, the current situation is well out of the affordability regardless of the budgeting.

I'm not even sure how anyone doesnt actually understand this. Posters on here have even explained about and linked to information regarding NHS charities.

Original poster
Monty27 · 27/04/2020 06:07

Clearly my android is not compatible with my copy of names.
I do apologise for any confusion.
Does anyone need clarification?

OP posts:
Bienentrinkwasser · 27/04/2020 06:08

YANBU at all.

NotEverythingIsBlackandWhite · 27/04/2020 06:18

Wtf is all this about having to donate to a service that is national.
Surely no-one is "having to donate" and any contributions to NHS charities is voluntary?

GlummyMcGlummerson · 27/04/2020 06:19

I'd quite like clarification on what aspect of donating to the NHS you don't agree with?

makingmammaries · 27/04/2020 06:23

I also find it weird that the NHS is simultaneously sanctified and described as taxpayer-funded and holding out a begging bucket. Fund the damn thing properly or change model.

Mummyoflittledragon · 27/04/2020 06:26

I get what you’re saying. However, we don’t pay in enough in. Are you a net contributor and up for paying more tax? Personally I’m not donating as I have to pay so much of my care privately as it’s not available on the nhs. I’d actually be far far far better off if there were higher taxes, the sort of post operative care available in places like France and Germany, actual physio, short waiting lists etc. I’ve spent tens upon tens of thousands on me. Dh would be 100% up for increased taxes if I could get proper care.

Bunnyfuller · 27/04/2020 06:27

I think the OP means in the current situation with people fundraising for the NHS left right and centre. Making gowns and masks.

Doing stuff that should be being properly funded by our taxes, not to harness as The Dunkirk Spirit. The govt are using the problems they caused and turning them into ‘hurrah for the NHS’.

Reginabambina · 27/04/2020 06:32

Well you don’t have to donate but the money needs to come from somewhere or the quality of care will get even worse. You can’t have everything for free all the time because it’s got the words national and service in it. That’s not how the world works.