AIBU to ask your thoughts on the NHS

[Bumblecattabbybee]

Don't get me wrong. I love and totally support the NHS. But the way it is right now just doesn't seem to be working as well as it should, and people are getting really sick, not getting treatment they need, often unable to even see a GP in good time when they have serious symptoms, and having to wait months for appointments for treatment. The whole thing seems to be falling apart.

Another issue is that a lot of the time, people don't really feel comfortable or free to use the NHS without judgement. The amount of times on here I've seen people listing some serious and scary symptoms that they or their child has and questioning whether it's okay to go to A&E/the GP. I've also regularly seen people criticising others who were in A&E/the GP for symptoms they didn't consider serious enough.

When I started working abroad, the difference really hit me. When I was sick or had a small injury or problem, I wouldn't go to the doctor because I was so worried about wasting their time, and I found that other British expats were the same. We have had it drilled into us that unless our sickness is of a certain severity or we seriously think we might have a serious, life threatening problem, or until a problem has got to the point where it's seriously affecting our wellbeing/mental health/quality of life and we can't cope anymore, we don't the go to the doctor because it's seen as a waste of NHS time, money and resources.

All my non-British friends here thought this was absolutely ridiculous - the way they see it is, when you're sick, you need to go to a doctor. You don't take risks. You don't put it off because you're afraid of wasting the doctor's time. This isn't how it should be with healthcare. You just go. The risk is NEVER worth it. Whereas I recently read an article about how this issue of people not wanting to waste doctor's time is a genuine issue in the UK - especially among older people, who end up really unwell because of their reluctance to see a GP when they first experienced symtoms.

A close relative of mine was recently diagnosed with cancer and luckily they're going to be okay, but the two issues above meant that they almost weren't. Firstly, the pressure to not waste NHS time meant that symptoms weren't investigated as soon as they appeared because relative felt the need to give it time, not make a fuss, see if things got better on their own. By the time they realised it was actually serious enough to warrant use of NHS time, it took SO long to get an appointment to see a GP. Weeks. So I've been thinking about this a lot recently - what a close call it was.

I used to be so proud of the NHS and in many ways I still am, but the above two issues really, really scare me. And from what I've seen, it's just getting worse and worse. I recently heard of someone who was given an appointment for a hospital procedure for a date at the beginning of 2023! I constantly hear of people waiting weeks for a GP appointment, and in some cases, a period of weeks can mean the difference between dealing with a small problem or a big one, dealing with mild symptoms or serious ones, and even be a case of life and death.

Here, I have to pay for heath insurance but I know that should I have any health issue, I can see a doctor that day, have tests that day, scans that day, if we can't get it all done that day then I'll come back tomorrow, and I never need to question whether it's serious enough to waste a doctor's time on because there's more a sense of, the doctor is providing me with a service which I am paying for, whereas the NHS always felt more like a privilege to use. But I can't help feeling this huge injustice over the idea of healthcare being a paid service in this way, and this scares me too.

Is there a solution? What do you think? I'm just curious about other people's experiences and thoughts.

the top 1% now pay a higher share of Income Tax receipts than at any time in past twenty years. Close to three in every ten pounds that the government receives in Income Tax is paid by just over 300,000 individuals

Well possibly. But those 300,000 are very few. Everyone needs to pay more, including those on basic income, but that's not a popular thought is it?

thats because they earn more! the top tier earners have seen their wealth rise far more than the remaining 95%.

Generally, basic rate taxed salaries have stagnated over the last decade and because of this, low earners pay more in proportion to their income than the wealthy, income tax, NI, council, VAT etc.

Yet still we have enough for the big ticket vanity items.... strange that

It is not so much they earn more but that all the reliefs my doctor father had from tax in the 1970s have gone - I don't even get child benefit. He got mortgage interest tax relief, full pension tax relief, could covenant money to student children with tax relief when making up the minimum student maintenance grant to the full grant (and no student fees to pay which today I pay - I just paid about £33k of student fees last month out of income tax at at least 42%) etc etc.

There is a relatively small band of us paying more and more income tax, not appreciated for doing so. It is not as if we have loads of money spare. I have zero savings for example at present after working full time without a break even for babies since 1983.

Let's face it. NHS is far from ideal, but an awful lot better than most of the world's population have available to them. What's difficult is envisaging a route to a better way of providing what is needed/expected, with all factors considered. And that's the issue - if it was easy, someone would have sorted it by now. I know a lot of people in a lot of countries, and I'm not sure any of them have a solution that would work for the UK. It's a really difficult one.

If the nhs was ever paying for this there is something very wrong:

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/sex-on-the-nhs-disabled-man-loses-prescription-for-intimate-sessions-sxkz70j2s

Its dire. People think it's free so take advantage. We need a different system. It isn't working.

I think the nurses and doctors are mostly fantastic, but the admin system is totally shot. Missing and incorrect files, mega delays of communication. It needs a complete overhaul. It isn't so much underfunded as that money doesn't go where it's really needed.

the top 1% now pay a higher share of Income Tax receipts than at any time in past twenty years. Close to three in every ten pounds that the government receives in Income Tax is paid by just over 300,000 individuals

Actually I think super rich tax is a bit of a red herring. The bigger problem imo is the hoarding of company profits by the very, very few at the top, it's so damaging to society. To many of the workers for these companies are living in real poverty (often propped up by the tax payer) while the owners have billions and billions. If the workers got a fairer share of the profits they create, for a start, they'd probably be in better health themselves, plus, they would all be paying more into the system because of higher wages.
I don't know how you solve the problem of greed at the top though.

@Kendodd

the top 1% now pay a higher share of Income Tax receipts than at any time in past twenty years. Close to three in every ten pounds that the government receives in Income Tax is paid by just over 300,000 individuals

Actually I think super rich tax is a bit of a red herring. The bigger problem imo is the hoarding of company profits by the very, very few at the top, it's so damaging to society. To many of the workers for these companies are living in real poverty (often propped up by the tax payer) while the owners have billions and billions. If the workers got a fairer share of the profits they create, for a start, they'd probably be in better health themselves, plus, they would all be paying more into the system because of higher wages.
I don't know how you solve the problem of greed at the top though.

It's an interesting conundrum. Obviously not all, but many of those billionaires do contribute an awful lot to society via charitable donations as well. I must admit, I was completely unaware until I found a list of those who give a lot away. It's not widely communicated, which in a way, I think is sad, as they are always depicted as evil money holders.

It's an interesting conundrum. Obviously not all, but many of those billionaires do contribute an awful lot to society via charitable donations as well. I must admit, I was completely unaware until I found a list of those who give a lot away. It's not widely communicated, which in a way, I think is sad, as they are always depicted as evil money holders

If folk have billions to give away, then clearly the tax system is favouring them, as they have been allowed to accumulate so much.

Society should have to rely on charitable giving, such as we saw in the Victorian age.

A bank last week, posted pre tax profits of 8 billion, how many bank workers are struggling to make ends meet? Same with supermarkets, many of these workers are claiming in work benefits - paid for by taxing these same workers via VAT, Council tax, fuel duty etc.

It's an interesting conundrum. Obviously not all, but many of those billionaires do contribute an awful lot to society via charitable donations as well. I must admit, I was completely unaware until I found a list of those who give a lot away. It's not widely communicated, which in a way, I think is sad, as they are always depicted as evil money holders.

Charity giving is very often tax deductible, don't be fooled into thinking this costs them.

@RosesAndHellebores

I'm not sure of the point you are making Hamster.

I would happily pay a means tested premium if it meant easier access to pre 9am appointments or post 7pm appointments, cutting edge pain relief when I have a procedure (I was told when I had a colonoscopy at a private hospital that the pain relief/sedation was better than it would have been on the NHS) and certainly for a private room if I had to stay in hospital and the option to pay for better food, enhanced cleaning and hot drinks to be served in a China mug rather than a plastic cup and for nurses who don't screech all night at the nurse station.

I don't care if the care is free at the point of delivery, I would like it to be civilised as well.

I agree.

Whilst there are disagreements about a two tier system, the NHS would benefit from charging for optional extras. Most women would love the option to pay for a private room on a maternity ward for example. A lot of dentists and orthodontists currently do this with appointments at more convenient times of the day for private vs nhs patients.

Whilst there are disagreements about a two tier system, the NHS would benefit from charging for optional extras. Most women would love the option to pay for a private room on a maternity ward for example. A lot of dentists and orthodontists currently do this with appointments at more convenient times of the day for private vs nhs patients

Perhaps you should just take out private med ins?

@Borderingmadness

Whilst there are disagreements about a two tier system, the NHS would benefit from charging for optional extras. Most women would love the option to pay for a private room on a maternity ward for example. A lot of dentists and orthodontists currently do this with appointments at more convenient times of the day for private vs nhs patients

Perhaps you should just take out private med ins?

I do have private medical insurance. I also pay privately to see a dentist. None of that helps the NHS to make additional money though. If for example I was to break a leg and need hospital treatment, I would be happy to pay for a private room (if needed) and private fracture clinic appointments. That isn’t available in the UK.

Most women would love the option to pay for a private room on a maternity ward for example

I thought this was normal. I paid for a private room in a large local NHS maternity unit. Pre-booked, if free you get it, if not, obviously tough, but it was lovely to have my own room, and bathroom.