Would you pay an additional tax for the NHS?

[Whatisthis543]

I’m torn on this one, surely our taxes should cover a well funded NHS but it seems that they don’t...

Is that systematic I.e too much bureaucracy and poor allocation of resources (within the trusts and elsewhere) or is there genuinely not enough money with an ageing population and rapid growth?

I think the entire model of the NHS needs reviewing. It isn’t the most effective, efficient or economically beneficial way of delivering healthcare, as numerous international models demonstrate. It isn’t a binary choice between “free NHS” or “US healthcare model where the poor just die if they get sick”, which is where discussion of healthcare models always ends up.

I would be happy to pay more tax if it actually went where it was needed ie front line people and not wasted on red tape 👍

Also introduce a charge for the NHS sorting out the party goers on a Saturday night - Will await incoming on that one 😎

So no: I wouldn’t pay an additional tax alone; though I’d potentially support higher taxation for a healthcare model which fit the bill.

Yes I would.

But I wouldn’t be happy to under the current circumstances, where money is mismanaged.

Yes, I would be happy to pay an additional tax to the NHS.

Throwing money at it won't fix the systematic problems if has. We already pay national insurance.

It needs a root to top overhaul. A re-focus. Based on empirical evidence of what works well internationally.

no
you could throw all the money into the world to the nhs and it still wont solve the problems imo

I completely agree that there are probably too many chiefs, also contractors on mega day rates to keep their staff numbers ‘down’ and ‘looking good on paper’

I'd support a full overhaul of the taxation system, with particular focus on education and health care, but not just an extra tax on top as it currently stands. The current issues seem to be more than just funding alone.

Already paying 40% so that feels like enough.

No way. We already pay huge amounts of tax. The problem is some people pay a lot while others pay very little but use more services. Perhaps there should be a basic charge for minor things and charges for things like appointments so people aren't so blase about missing them. Seems to be a lot of waste.

@Herja I agree actually. I don’t mind paying additional tax for a Scandinavian type system with a focus on healthcare, education and social housing for all.

Don’t you find it weird that social housing in Sweden is ‘as standard’ rather than the exception?

By the way we privately own, but I think it is odd that there is a social housing stigma but not a social healthcare stigma!

No. It's it fit for purpose

Like most other posters, a root and branch review is required. My cousin is a nurse and under huge pressure at present to work additional hours. She tells me that the system is so bureaucratic and unwieldy that it would be unsafe for her to do so, even in a pandemic.
I think there needs to be an upskilling of an auxiliary type of nurse to meet lower level caring needs.

Having worked in the NHS for many years, yes, I would. But perhaps more so, I would like to see the taxes we already pay being spent more wisely. I would like to see tax avoidance clamped down on.

I agree that some people pay in and get fuck all.

Others, including my own relatives in some cases, have paid in very little yet don't appreciate what they get. Example: OAP family member consistently forgetting to put medication in the fridge, rendering it unusable. When on holiday, no NHS nearby, being landed with a private prescription charge of several hundred pounds = remembered to put it in the fucking fridge for once. It's a joke. As a taxpayer I won't find that forgivable, yet who's stopping situations like that?

No, I don’t want to pay more tax into a broken system, but I would support a system like Canada or Switzerland has though. Or better still, a German system with insurance based on your income.

It’s impossible to discuss any kind of paid-for system without people getting hysterical and shrieking about people dying in the USA though, as most people can’t seem to get their thick little brains around the idea that it isn’t a binary choice.

No. I believe it needs a good overhaul, lots of things should not be free on the NHS for example non emergency transport. I believe I pay enough tax, it's just mis managed. I would also like the government to be forced to disclose publicly and in layman's terms, exactly where taxes are spent.

@MaskingForIt

No, I don’t want to pay more tax into a broken system, but I would support a system like Canada or Switzerland has though. Or better still, a German system with insurance based on your income.

It’s impossible to discuss any kind of paid-for system without people getting hysterical and shrieking about people dying in the USA though, as most people can’t seem to get their thick little brains around the idea that it isn’t a binary choice.

This

I would like to see huge changes first.

I'd be happy to have a system like France or Australia and already have private health insurance so happy to pay a premium anyhow. What I wouldn't agree to is paying extra on the NHS as it is - it's not fit for purpose, the waste and mismanagement is rife and it needs reform.

It's not a binary choice between our model and the US. No-one thinks that US healthcare is in any way an appropriate way forwards. Let's look at Austria, Germany, France, Australia - all of whom have far superior systems.

I think the biggest problem is the misuse. People calling ambulances because they can't drive. People going to the doctors because they sneezed. People getting free calpol because they can. Etc etc