Are they all hiding in a fucking fridge?

[noblegiraffe]

The government? Where is the leadership? The reassurance that the problem is being addressed with urgency? Cobra meetings? Horrendous stories coming out of A&E departments right now.

Steve Barclay, the Health Secretary today announced on twitter that people should download the Couch to 5k app to reduce pressure on the NHS.

twitter.com/stevebarclay/status/1609957311610556416?s=61&t=rHTkCD1w_H9OmH9UB2E4UQ

Do your fucking job, Steve. And Rishi, show some leadership. You bloody wanted this job so badly, where have you gone?

www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-64142614

Well if the dizzying array of suppositories and supplements in French supermarkets are anything to go by then yes they do! Also the French seem more clued up on health and good diet generally although they drink and smoke too much - they certainly aren't as fat - yet

And who’s going to staff them?

To the poster who said it - no, they don’t have it so good they can work PT and still live in abundance. Their ‘PT’ is normal FT hours. GP FT hours is more like 60h/week. Look around you, it’s really not like that. Plenty of threads by GPs or other HCP here painting a very different and dire picture. But people prefer to believe that HCPs are whining while living a great life instead of looking at the wider context. Meanwhile, Australia healthcare system is hoovering them up with better pay and conditions.

We are the only country in the world with completely free ie no supplementary insurance healthcare.

Well that's not true. Healthcare is free in Denmark, Argentina, Brazil. The vast majority of it is free in Spain.

Ive heard from many people that they can’t get an appt and the waiting rooms at gps are empty. I’ve had the same experience myself- no gps have left from our surgery either - so where are they ?? It’s not even part time - it’s not how it was previously- you cannot get through and can’t get an appt

Who would even notice if GPs went on strike?!

Maybe they have and only the government knows !

@Forever42 just wanted to add - I’m Brazilian. Those who can afford to, pay for private healthcare, some make great sacrifices to be able to afford it, Because the universal healthcare system is unreliable and corrupt. I remember my DGM paying extortionate amounts, because of age and pre-existing conditions . that was already in the 2000s. Same with education (although there’s free provision too).

But how do I do that as a member of the public? I'm willing to pay more tax. I'd be willing to pay a fee to use the NHS too if it comes to that. But it's the government's job to set the tax rates and ensure the service has sufficient funding to operate as intended.

I'm also sceptical of the idea that if we all be behaved responsibly the NHS would be fine - people haven't just suddenly decided to become obese, or have heat attacks in the last few months. And you can be super careful with your health and still need healthcare by being unlucky.

I would imagine that GP waiting rooms are empty even though you can't get an appointment because most of the appointments are being done by phone, so you don't see all the patients who are waiting for a call

If they couldn't afford to go private, or if they weren't guaranteed an ambulance immediately instead of waiting for hours, or if they had to sit in a waiting room for 12 hours instead of being taken straight through, this wouldn't be happening.

Well Rishi is definitely at home (at No. 10) as we saw him arriving with his police cavalcade last night. Unless it was Larry the cat.

People always say they'll happily pay more tax, but in the UK we have never voted for a government who promised higher taxes for better services. The reality is that anyone proposing that wouldn't get elected, so it's all a bit pointless

@newnamequickly - Then in a different county my mother was seen in 24 minutes. A scan within two hours, admitted within 4 hours. MRI the following day, minor surgery the day after and home for tea that same day. Unbelievably quick for the NHS
Where was this ?(asking for a friend)

Seems paradoxical but it isn’t. There have been threads recently by GPs/HCPs where they discuss this and their workload and wider conditions.

People WANT a more European type of healthcare. I wish politicians would just get on with it.

Do 'people' want to or are able to, pay for it ?

I totally agree with the OP

The thread is being derailed to talk predominantly about the NHS but this isn’t just about the NHS!

It’s about the complete lack of visibility of any senior government member, including the PM, for weeks now during a winter where living conditions and standards of living are declining for most and dire for some!

Unfortunately we won't get a "Eurooean-style" model that works as well as other European models unless the government also increases funding to match levels in those countries. Even with elements of insurance or co-pay, most of the systems we seek to emulate have a higher amount of government funding per head (as a proportion of GDP) than the UK government gives as funding to the NHS.

I agree OP but I have such low expectations of this government. It’s outrageous.

Yen fact that there was a plan to raise NI contributions specifically for the NHS and social care and it was reversed…..😯

We are the only country in the world with completely free ie no supplementary insurance healthcare

Dentistry isn’t free, if you can find one.

l was trading an article in the Independent yesterday, even Tory voters think the government have messed up the NHS.

Where's labour in all this too? I think the lack of a vibrant and powerful opposition is awful for politics - I just don't see them anywhere. I think I'm Covid they stepped back because it was somehow not quite the time (in the emergency war like situation) and they've never seemed to step back up. They need to hold them to account.
But don't forget they've all been on Xmas break 🤷🏼‍♀️😡

There is nothing the Govt can do, Barclay knows this and so does Sunak but as both will never use the NHS, they don't care..

They can't get extra staff, open more closed wards or get more equipment.

This is the end result of our fascination with voting Tory and voting for Brexit.

No other European country is suffering like we are.

Labour have been out everyday criticising the Govt but i really don't get the "opposition" argument, Sunak has a 74 seat majority and he can do as he wishes, Labour have been warning about the NHS for years.

Once again, we the public are responsible for the state of the NHS, WE voted for it.

@JoanOfAllTrades - such clear and helpful posts on wound care .So agree that it's not uncommon to find doctors and other professionals offering inadequate or incorrect advice .And so many of us ,treating cuts and wounds at home think we know what's best - like "letting the air get to it" .NO.

But it made me tearful to think that's what we're coming to - can't access medical care ? Rely on the kindness and knowledge of private individuals .Youtube is going to really come into it's own .

Because, obviously, the problems are all just an internal management issue and it was her decision to exacerbate the problems in the NHS by spending money on failed political reforms since 2010; her decision to Brexit, to cause the social care crisis, not to train enough doctors and nurses, and not to build enough hospitals with sufficient capacity to cope with the issues caused by the social care crisis, an ageing population, increasing chronic health conditions exacerbated by growing inequality and injustices within society, and the annual fact of winter.