Printout of cost to NHS

[1dontunderstand]

I don’t think IBU but here goes:

I think every patient should be given a printout of how much their care has cost the NHS.

Every GP visit
Every vaccine for them or their child
Every midwife/health visitor
Every blood test
Every ambulance or A & E visit

I don’t think people have any idea how much their health care costs

Ok. Do you realise the cost of rolling out a national project like this?

so that's taking a worker away from doing treatment-related work.
and computer systems to gather and collate and spew out all this information.
and then probably a complaints procedure and staff to deal with errors/ disputes as to actual costs...

What would be the point of that? To stop people using the NHS, like at the very start of covid when my local hospital put a sign up saying 'protect the NHS, stay at home'?
It might be interesting to compare the cost of an NHS blood test with a private one, which many have had to resort to due to being unable to get a GP appointment. Also GP appointments, if we are comparing like with like (a phone call). The only point I can see to all this is to make people feel guilty for going to hospital, so you would be risking people's lives.

Those that worry about those costs to the system may well stop seeking treatment, meanwhile those who feel entitled to go to A&E etc on a whim will continue to feel entitled.

I think it would be a completely pointless exercise. What would you be hoping to achieve by this?

Can we have one that prints out the savings to the NHS too. For the patients who die from heart attacks as there are no ambulances/ a long wait. Or for the patients whose cancer has become terminal and now will just have palliative care. In fact if people would just stop making a fuss and die stoically in corners the NHS would be back on it's feet in no time. Snowflakes wanting medical attention; whatever happened to that stiff upper lip?

When my daughter was in special care baby unit they were filming a documentary on the ward
Each cot was costing an average of £750 per baby per day
That was 30 years ago

I thought that people would me more mindful and appreciative of the wonderful service they received

I mean, that's fine if you want people to feel guilty for seeking medical help, I guess. All this will mean is that many elderly won't go, I imagine, as they "don't want to be a bother".

It's a shit idea.

Ridiculous idea. Takes time, cost to print out and quite often hospitals have no idea how much something costs.

Take an ECG.

You have the machine to record it
A person to attach the leads and read it
The electrodes
The paper
The electricity
the wipes to clean it
the prep for the patient's skin

Now to do an ECG on a baby you don't need to prep the skin, you actually cut the electrodes in half.

So should a baby's ECG cost less? It's actually more difficult to record because babies only stay still if they want to.

How do you cost in who records the ECG, it could be a cardiographer, a physiologist or it could be a consultant.

If it's a cardiographer then you may need a different person to interpret it.

You haven't thought this idea through, have you?

I guess if you want everyone to feel guilty for using the NHS, or feel that they shouldn't use it, then it might work 💁

How do you know they have received wonderful service?

I know two people who were recently in the hospital and the care they received was shocking. No fault of the nurses, who were doing the best they could.

GP appointment? Only if they get a printout of the time I've had to spend when I should be working trying to get through to book an appointment, then time off for a phone call, followed by more time for a f2f appointment if required.

The NHS is failing badly, and I am not sure we should all be so grateful for the crap service that most of us are now subjected to. Again, not due to individual staff- I also work for the NHS.

Just to clarify, I have no problem with taking time off for medical appointments, obviously. But it's a waste of time when it's obvious that you need to be seen f2f due to the nature of the problem, but have to wait for a phone call first, which could come at any time that day, to only be told that they need to see you f2f.

I think it's an interesting idea in theory but of course as many pp have said, it's impractical.
I saw a YouTube video earlier about how much an American was charged for a surgery (I think it was $85k on bill then most was discounted later as insurance was declined.,) ANYWAY it did make me wonder what generic costs are here. I googled and found £250 for ambulance, £400 for overnight stay etc.

I dont know how widespread it is but in NI our prescriptions are free and we have a minor ailments service where the pharmacist can prescribe for certain things like athlete's foot, threadworm, blocked ears etc. I do wonder how much those cost the NHS, esp when the meds can be bought for a few quid over the counter.

If someone had presented me with a breakdown of costs for DH's 'wonderful' care after his last stay in hospital I don't think I would've been responsible for my actions. His 'care' from the start to the finish of his cancer journey fell far short of wonderful and I am now a widow.

What a terrible idea.

I know what you mean op. We all know that the nhs is struggling yet we all also know people who visit their GP needlessly and use A&E like a drop in centre. Even on mn there are threads where respondents tell the op to go to A&E when it is the wrong advice. So I understand where you are coming from but also think that it wouldn't work for reasons already outlined - time wasters wouldn't care, and some people with genuine need would be put off seeking help.

'The NHS is failing badly, and I am not sure we should all be so grateful for the crap service that most of us are now subjected to. Again, not due to individual staff- I also work for the NHS'

I thought about this part of your comment @U2HasTheEdge - I think there are still pockets of good/ok service out there, but I also hear enough to know there are cracks and it's not just one of two areas.

My bugbear is 'our NHS' - as in protecting/saving etc.- not it's not yours and it is not so special, it's a public service and each country has one. A bit like a favourite child, just because we're biased thinking they are amazing we expect all others to agree...

Not a print out, n0 - waste of time, paper and expense.

However, I do think costs should be available and visible- they don't have to be exact, just general and rounded up.- Maybe a brief mention in brackets of the cost of each treatment on the NHS web page about that treatment, for example average Xray costs £200, etc

People with pets tend to appreciate the full cost of treatment to some extent, as they know what it costs for animals, and it costs more for humans

A GP friend told me that her surgery gets £130 pa per patient. I was surprised it's so low. I guess lots of patients on their register don't attend all year, or rarely. But some must cost their surgery much, much more than that.

They already do this in my area for outpatients appointments

I agree with the sentiment that people should see what their treatment actually costs. People actually think the NHS is "free" but don't realize there are still costs

It's a great idea but I don't think the cost/benefit of doing this for every single NHS service makes it worthwhile (or even feasible).

Also, you will be preaching to the converted in most cases. Those who miss appointments and don't generally care about the NHS costs probably won't be easily guilt-tripped.

I don’t think people have any idea how much their health care costs

And when they do know what will that do? stop them going to hospital in an emergency?

People actually think the NHS is "free" but don't realize there are still costs

It's not free though, DH & I pay a shed load of tax towards it for example.

The issue is an ageing population that hasn't paid in enough & no planning & investment.