people who say the NHS is free?

[Sallygoround631]

It isn't free. This is truly absurd. It is funded by us, and always has been.

I see this so often on MN, and in all seriousness too, as if it is a free gift the government give to us.
I've read more than one poster suggesting we wouldn't have an obesity epidemic if the MHS wan't 'free', and that the US healthcare system would benefit us!
WTAF?
Because the US has never had an obesity issue....

How can anyone of adult age in the uk think the NHS costs us nothing?
Christ, and you wonder why the government takes the piss.

@ToothGrinder

There are posters up all over every hospital and GP surgery telling us what a missed appointment costs. Can't imagine there's a single person in the UK who doesn't know about this. I certainly had plenty of time to read four of them, repeatedly, last time I waited for 20 minutes at an empty reception desk (additional sign: if I am not here please wait here until I am available). Maybe they were intended to be an interesting distraction from the conversation reception staff were having about their local slimming club in the room two doors down. The rest of the patients standing alongside me didn't seem to think so though.

Sadly a regular in hospital and GPs - never seen one of these notices and trust me, I do a lot of sitting reading notices

It's free at the point of use, which is what people mean.
Generally over a lifetime, people will use more than they put in.
You can calculate a rough estimate of how much you've "cost" the NHS here: www.gocompare.com/health-insurance/the-bill-of-health/

So according to that I’ve contributed more than I’ve taken out.

Using that calculator I’ve cost the NHS £4750

I pay £25k in tax a year

I’m 47 so I better get ill pretty quick to get my moneys worth

It pisses me off that there is no responsibility put on people for their health in the uk. So many preventable costs put on the NHS and all we say is ‘give it more money’. How about people take some responsibilty for their health?

@hamstersarse define “take more responsibility”?

I have (most likely) autism. I can’t help that.

I also have a disability that is getting worse. I can’t help that.

I have had a serious accident that has left me disabled and I’ve put weight on as a result of not being able to move or do exercise and the medication I take.

On the outside I look like a fat lazy cunt.

I think (as an NHS worker) that patients should know exactly how much a missed appointment costs the NHS .

Hospitals should make it easier to cancel an appointment. I emailed on the day I received the letter to try and re-arrange my appointment and had a response 20 days later to say my email had been forwarded to the department. That was the day before my appointment which I attended and they knew nothing of my email. I'd tried calling several times as well which was equally useless.

I had a podiatry appointment for orthotics that came through at a day and time I could not make.

I called the number over 200 times, you’re on a press 1 for this and 2 for that and you end up on hold waiting for someone to answer the number at the end.

I help until the call cut off every time - which was 30 minutes.

It’s as well I have inclusive minutes on my phone.

[quote AchillesPoirot]@hamstersarse define “take more responsibility”?

I have (most likely) autism. I can’t help that.

I also have a disability that is getting worse. I can’t help that.

I have had a serious accident that has left me disabled and I’ve put weight on as a result of not being able to move or do exercise and the medication I take.

On the outside I look like a fat lazy cunt.[/quote]
If there is nothing at all you can do to make your health better, fine. Not eating better (weight Is 80-90% diet not exercise)? Not doing everything you can to support your own mental health, fine.

Whatever situation we find ourselves in, we should always be asking, am I doing the best I can for my health, that’s it.

How about people take some responsibilty for their health?

what does that actually mean though & where do you draw the line?

It would be great if everyone who attends a GP/A& E or has any kind of treatment was given a letter showing the actual cost of everything they have received. Not as a bill, but just to make clear the vast costs involved, plus some sort of explanation that it is taxpayers who fund it, not the Government.
Sadly, the time & cost of doing this rules it out, but I have heard many medical professionals say that they wish it was possible.

@AchillesPoirot

So according to that I’ve contributed more than I’ve taken out.

At this point in time.

Who knows what could happen in the future.

No I can’t eat better I am already following a calorie controlled diet under the hospital dietician AND I’m attending private physio that I pay for myself at £55 a week AND I have a personal trainer at the gym (£30 a month for the gym AND £35 a week for the session with the trainer and the personalised programme).

I literally CANNOT move my leg. It doesn’t work. I have issues with the grip in my hands that also impact due to nerve damage, as well as damage to the nerves in my leg. Also sciatica caused by my frame being so twisted.

What more would you like me to do? I’m all ears.

[quote newbiename]@Lunar27 agreed. However, I really don't think people understand how much everything actually costs and believe their NI fully pays for their hospital event.
NHS also badly run and haemorrhages money.
Eg My partner was in for a night. I said he didn't need any drugs to take home. They sent a 7 day supply of all his tablets. [/quote]
Lol. One example and you’ve nailed the whole nhs.

My autism causes food aversion issues by the way. My diet is as good as I can get it without vomiting up.

I also lack the ability to prepare a lot of food some days - some days my hands don’t work and I’m not safe to chop, or my body isn’t cooperating and standing and moving is incredibly painful or just impossible and I can’t.

These kind of anecdotes are incredibly unhelpful. The US system is not perfect, but over 65s and low paid do get Medicare and Medicaid. Others pay insurance. The US healthcare is vastly superior to what we have. Kidding yourself that the NHS is superior and patting ourselves on the back for feeding this failing behemoth isn’t helping heath outcomes in this country

How are you measuring this? The US system is not vastly superior but I look forward to be proven otherwise.

@AchillesPoirot

No I can’t eat better I am already following a calorie controlled diet under the hospital dietician AND I’m attending private physio that I pay for myself at £55 a week AND I have a personal trainer at the gym (£30 a month for the gym AND £35 a week for the session with the trainer and the personalised programme).

I literally CANNOT move my leg. It doesn’t work. I have issues with the grip in my hands that also impact due to nerve damage, as well as damage to the nerves in my leg. Also sciatica caused by my frame being so twisted.

What more would you like me to do? I’m all ears.

You are doing all you can, fine. Like I said?

I don’t think that is always the case with everyone, do you?

How about people take some responsibilty for their health?

I hate this sort of moralising. It implies that the poster thinks that they obviously are better because they take responsibility and most other people don’t.

Get off your high horse.

I don’t think that is always the case with everyone, do you?

I think most people do what they can within the limits they’re set.

Whatever situation we find ourselves in, we should always be asking, am I doing the best I can for my health, that’s it.

My main issue is stress which is impacting my sleep.

It would be great if everyone who attends a GP/A& E or has any kind of treatment was given a letter showing the actual cost of everything they have received. Not as a bill, but just to make clear the vast costs involved, plus some sort of explanation that it is taxpayers who fund it, not the Government.

I'd argue most people are aware of this & are very conscious of wasting resources. The people who don't care (which are the minority) are not going to care about a letter.

If there is nothing at all you can do to make your health better, fine. Not eating better (weight Is 80-90% diet not exercise)? Not doing everything you can to support your own mental health, fine.

Fine. As if you have the right to judge me if I am doing “enough” in your eyes.

I’d do better for my mental health if I didn’t keep trying to defend the disabled on here.

There's no such thing as public money.

And there was no such thing as EU money either..

@AchillesPoirot

If there is nothing at all you can do to make your health better, fine. Not eating better (weight Is 80-90% diet not exercise)? Not doing everything you can to support your own mental health, fine.

Fine. As if you have the right to judge me if I am doing “enough” in your eyes.

I’d do better for my mental health if I didn’t keep trying to defend the disabled on here.

👏👏

One of the problems is because of this myth that it's free some people don't respect it. The number of missed GP appointments is a classic example, people book and just don't turn up because they have made no investment in it. I don't know what the answer is but there needs to be a solution. Perhaps means tested appointments chargeable at a nominal sum like £10. I'd happily pay if it meant I could get an appointment. Or a charge for missing an appointment although I don't know how that would be administered.

@Mybobowler

Oh come on, everyone knows how the NHS is funded. We all know what "free at the point of use" means, and we're all familiar with the basic function of taxation and public spending. You wouldn't take this much issue with someone saying that their education was free, would you? The faux outrage on this thread is bizarre.

Agreed 100%. The anti nhs posts are relentless at the moment on here.

And like another poster. I don’t judge whether I think someone is always doing the best for their physical or mental health. Because I am not inside their head and body and I don’t know.

You’d see me eat a bag of crisps and think fat cunt doesn’t need those crisps.

But it’s that or nothing and not take meds that need taken with food. And it’s that or smoke (I used to) or that or self harm.

How do you know the difference on the outside?

I’m PROUD of what I manage to achieve. I’m functionally very disabled and I hold down a responsible job. I’m a higher rate tax payer.

I do all that DESPITE my health. And anyone who wants to sit in judgment of me is welcome to try it for a month or two and see how they get on.