Just privatise the NHS

[user1237865]

Totally prepared to be told IABU but I've just got to the point where I think the NHS is so far gone it should be privatised.

Totally outing so I've Name changed. In NI we have 2 private hospitals but they don't do emergency's, they don't do ante natal care. Really they only provide you with an appointment with a consultant who will then decide in treatment which in most cases will happen on the NHS. If it's something like cataracts they'll do it but the private hospitals here don't do anything major. Perhaps the rest of the UK is the same. I'm not sure.

Today DSis was sent to A&E by the GP. DM and her have now been waiting 7 hours to be seen. While waiting another man collapsed and died in front of them. I think this is beyond ridiculous how can they let this happen?! If people were seen in a decent time frame this would be less likely.

FIL has terminal cancer again nowhere to treat him when he gets recurring sepsis so most times he sits on a chair (around ever 2 months) for 36 hours getting an IV in A&E before he's finally gets moved to a ward.

I paid for private ante natal care each time I was pregnant. It did give me appointments every 3 weeks and scans with a consultant but when it came to giving birth it was a time when the consultant was working a shift for the NHS thus using their resources and beds. Yes the care was probably therefore cheaper than had I been paying for my stay in hospital too but it isn't an option here.

The whole things a complete joke. Those willing to pay/ have insurance are still stuck blocking the NHS which in my opinion should be there for those that can't afford their own treatment or can't get insurance through their job.

Surely if a lot of it was private, pay would be better, meaning more people choosing it as a career (and not leaving) meaning people actually get proper care! Though so much of what I think could be wrong as I don't understand it all fully.

On looking at the last general election in December 2019 the conservatives only stood for 4 out of the 18 seats in NI. Hence why I know so little about them. They're pretty much non existent here. I wouldn't say I'm alone in not knowing what they stand for etc. I get most of my information regarding UK politics from the news.
@Ladywiddio I was asking as most people have blamed them for the state of the NHS but my understanding is most people are also still voting for them I just wanted to know what their massively redeeming factor was if they're the ones insisting on underfunding the NHS.

Most people I know who are too poor to afford private health care and that also vote for the tories are the same people who fell for farage and his NHS brexit bus. They love the NHS, they just belive the lies.

People always automatically think when you say anything bad about the NHS you’re saying it about those on the front line. You’re not.

we all know how amazing the doctors and nurses are. Over worked, underpaid hero’s. By saying the NHS needs to be privatised is not saying they’re crap. It’s saying it needs more bloody funding to help them!!!!

If you do your research you can see how much money those sat behind a desk for the NHS get paid VS those docs and nurses. It’s a disgrace.

something needs to change.

Chronic underfunding ????. Healthcare now represents 40% of all government spending. An additional £ 12 billion was agreed on top of the planned increase in financial support. At this rate, the NHS will represent 50% of all government expenditure. The reality is that additional funding will either have to come from an increase in direct taxation, on top of the cost of living crisis, or taken from elsewhere. Where do you suggest; UC, Education or Defence ?.

Boris is that you?

But you get the option in Aus of either paying the MLS or private insurance. In the UK you have to pay NI and then take out private insurance.

Personally we don't have private and pay the MLS as I think the public system here is great and paying for private health insurance, not supporting the public health system, feels very much like rich v poor.

I'm not sure how I feel about the pension being means tested though. There are a lot of wealthy boomers here, does it make sense if they have a million $ in Super to support their own retirement?

Agree funding isn’t the issue. The appalling wastage and over spending on drugs etc are huge contributors to the deficit.

Private companies will be run much more efficiently and every cost analysed. They are businesses. As are GP practices and pharmacy’s as a previous PP pointed out.

It's funny how so many of you act like it's the current model or American model and that's the only 2 options.

I think this is a tough one but effectively those of us who can afford to are opting out of using the NHS anyway where we can and going private. So effectively I pay 3 times - taxed income, private medical insurance and covering cost of diagnostic tests that aren't covered under insurance. The pharmacists keep telling me how expensive drugs XYZ are privately, but my point is my time costs me more than dealing with the NHS GP. And getting for example my life saving medication annually is a cost I'm happy to bear.

Still though - best overall care and infra I've witnessed is in Germany - at least from a hospital perspective.

@VeniVidiWeeWee that’s a daft comment to make without elaborating as you know full well we can go and visit our GP for free so in what way are u defining them as “private”?

@Pyewhacket there are millions of people in this country who can afford to pay way more tax than they currently do!

It's unsustainable. We now have more over 65s than under 15s. To fund adequate health & social care for that people are going to have to pay more & not just from income. No one would vote for it though because people think they've paid for their future care when most haven't.

Yabbvvu

There needs to be more emphasis on the management of funding not just throwing money at the situation. A lot of smaller hospitals have closed meaning everyone is sent to one ‘centralised’ hospital, some of which were built new but still not fit for purpose-our nearest one was built with some huge design flaws and then even more spent rectifying what they could.

We no longer have out of hours gps in our area, everyone gets sent to A&E which is a much higher cost per head and increases waiting times for actual urgent cases.

In years gone by NHS funded training students, but then didn’t fund any additional junior positions, funded students then ended up going to work privately or into other professions but there was still a gap at senior level.

Its easy to point out the flaws/mistakes, but answers are harder. Definitely don’t think there should be more high paid upper/middle managers. Maybe more localised care, with clinical managers who better understand the needs for their area? More automising, clearly thats an additional cost as well? Something has got to change but I don’t think privatisation is the answer-one of the best things about this country is that anyone can access healthcare without worrying/not able to afford it.

America has far higher expenditure and poorer health outcomes. Because the point is to make profit. YABU

Personally I favour the French system

I think Savid Javid and Rishi Sunak have both worked with private medical companies in the USA. It’s naive to think they wouldn’t go for that model. They have already siphoned off billions throughout the pandemic, they don’t care about the poor.

Not having to wait months on a list a benefit then?

Yes. And when when GPs weren't agreeing to what was considered to be a reasonable contract the government forcibly imposed the deal. The NHS still provides GPs with the vast majority of their income. The NHS also contracts out to private providers for secondary care to increase capacity and reduce waits.

Have you missed the news about how shit primary care is, the bit that, as you say, is largely private...

YABU

private healthcare costs more for the simple reason that there’s a profit motive.

Look at private nurseries, private adult care homes. Are the staff paid more? No. But there’s profit to be made - that is the priority.

The NHS has been under funded. Anyone who thinks otherwise needs to go and do some actual proper research on this.

Again I disagree. Management of funding after over a decade of cuts is impossible because the NHS is losing staff hand over fist.

look at local authorities which have funding crises. First thing they do is pump money into management to manage the situation- because you need that to stabilise it.

The NHS has been chopped and changed and meddled with so many times, it cannot stabilise and therefore cannot function properly.

They need to stop coming up with new models to cover the fact that a) they want to privatise it and b) that it does need an injection of cash.

I live in Switzerland and our health insurance is about £1250 per month. (2 adults 3 secondary age kids).

I also think at least some of the hospitals are not for profit.

Just look at Germany, France, anywhere in Scandinavia, Austria or Switzerland - all with private medical treatment too. The US is awful, but there are lots of countries closer to home that do manage private healthcare better. The NHS isn’t free, we are paying, it’s just very badly managed with a few private companies leeching an awful lot of money off the system.

I used to go for regular b12 injections when I lived abroad. It cost me EURO 25 a pop by a nurse at my gynaecologist (the gynae also checked me over once a year). I’m back in the uk, no gynaecologist unless referred by GP (so no preventative care) and that same b12 jab costs £225, it’s the exact same injection. It’s sheer money making. We should be rioting in this country.

I've worked in an NHS and private environment. Private companies exploit the staff and patients. The outcome for both ways are shit currently. You need decent training, funding, pay and investment. It's not rocket science.

Privatisation went well for prisons didn't it? 😂