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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU to not be remotely bothered that Rishi has private healthcare

330 replies

MXVIT · 09/01/2023 09:44

I'm really not - it's an absolutely ridiculous thing for us to be getting worked up about.

He's the prime minister - of course he has private healthcare. Leaders of the country need to be fit and well and therefore need the best healthcare money can buy - we can all agree the NHS is not that - and thats a separate conversation.

By that logic lets ban all childless babysitters, all dogless dogwalkers.

Honestly as a country I feel we're that addicted to getting ourselves into a frenzy over everything that we're focussing on the wrong things.

The narrative of "the poorest of society don't have this - so NO ONE CAN" is getting more and more common lately.

OP posts:
Havanananana · 09/01/2023 13:09

If everyone who could afford private health care used it, the NHS would be freed up for those who can't, surely?

If the level of healthcare provided by a National Health Service was of the same standard as that only available to those able to afford it - there would be no need for private healthcare. Why should the public, who pay compulsory National Insurance contributions and taxes to the tune of £156 billion a year just for the NHS, be fobbed off with a second-class service?

Other, similar countries manage to provide excellent health care services - not through citizens paying more in tax, but through governments prioritising healthcare expenditure over other expenditure.

That the 5th/6th/7th largest economy on the planet cannot provide adequate high-class healthcare to its citizens is a disgrace.

minipie · 09/01/2023 13:10

I can’t get worked up about this particularly

BUT I do think it is a part of a bigger problem, that we have a government whose life experience bears so little resemblance to that of the average constituent.

I wonder how much time they’ve even spent talking to their constituents, hearing their issues and trying to sort them out, as opposed to political wrangling.

So many seem SO out of touch with what life is like for the majority of people.

ethelredonagoodday · 09/01/2023 13:11

Mischance · 09/01/2023 10:18

I don't care that he has private health care - I do care that he won't admit it.

This. His reluctance to give a straight answer to the question answers it for him though!

Also, we have private healthcare , as do many of our friends, through work, but we'd not use it for GP services. Maybe that's our loss? I don't even know if that's an option? It seems less common than specialist/consultant private healthcare that's often offered as an employee benefit.

I think he's out of touch with pretty much everything, so I'm no more worked up about this than anything else related to this totally inept shower of shite that we are forced to call a government.

ethelredonagoodday · 09/01/2023 13:12

minipie · 09/01/2023 13:10

I can’t get worked up about this particularly

BUT I do think it is a part of a bigger problem, that we have a government whose life experience bears so little resemblance to that of the average constituent.

I wonder how much time they’ve even spent talking to their constituents, hearing their issues and trying to sort them out, as opposed to political wrangling.

So many seem SO out of touch with what life is like for the majority of people.

Yep exactly.

angstridden2 · 09/01/2023 13:18

Agree with those saying the powers that be are totally out of touch. Why would it matter to them if health and social care, and Increasingly education, are in a mess when you and your loved ones don’t need to use it?

I can afford to use private medicine for some things (too old to afford a private healthcare plan though) but what about those who cannot?

Northernlassie1974 · 09/01/2023 13:23

Hmmmm
It’s not just about whether he uses private healthcare though is it? To echo many others here, it’s about him not being truthful, if it isn’t an issue, why can’t he just say ‘yes’. He has created an issue by being evasive.

He is a millionaire and has a family who haven’t ever had to worry about money or rely solely on public services. His government promised money from Brexit would go to NHS, then basically said ‘oh yeah, no we actually can’t do that now’ once Brexit was agreed. They absolutely want the service to be privatised so they can continue to make the rich richer and not have to direct government money to NHS and other public services. This is what people are angry about, the government are far removed from people who are working class and below and the real issues to care about it.

That’s the issue, not that they can’t comment as they don’t experience it, that they simple don’t care about it. And not answering just smacks of no respect for us who are affected.

Look at the top countries in the the happiness ratings, almost all are countries where inequality is minimised, government who make the people feel listened to and respected, significant investment in public services and mental health and well-being…..governments who care and feel a democracy.

It’s all beginning to feel a bit dystopian at the moment: public services who were relied upon, actually highlighted as ‘key workers’ during the pandemic are now being written off as unreasonable and unrealistic spongers and moaners for daring to want their pay to rise in line with inflation and at the same rate as private sector. And now the government are looking to stop them even having the right to strike and protest. Working people not being able to heat their homes and provide food . People who have paid through the nose, usually with loans and overdrafts, to be educated to degree level as not born with a silver spoon. Those people are being told ‘you should be happy you’ve got what you’ve got’ from the government in their ivory towers or with their out of office on while on their holiday abroad which they can still comfortably afford. Same government who laughed at the plebs while they continued to do as they wished while imposing lockdown restrictions on the rest of the country while key workers seemed to be deemed cannon fodder vital to ‘keep the country going’ but now, not vital enough to be able to keep up with the cost of living and not important enough for a pay rise and painted as scrounges and moaners by the very government that ‘clapped’ for them.

I could go on, but, this, this is why people are annoyed he won’t answer a simple question. It’s not the question alone per say, it’s more that it’s yet another indication of the lack of honesty and respect for the public that he feels he doesn’t need to answer or for some reason can’t be honest as he feels it may ‘anger the peasants’.

Under his eye.

Soothsayer1 · 09/01/2023 13:25

angstridden2 · 09/01/2023 13:18

Agree with those saying the powers that be are totally out of touch. Why would it matter to them if health and social care, and Increasingly education, are in a mess when you and your loved ones don’t need to use it?

I can afford to use private medicine for some things (too old to afford a private healthcare plan though) but what about those who cannot?

It will matter to them eventually, when it starts to hurt them, when there aren't enough healthy people to staff the businesses that make them and their friends wealthy.
When young people stop having families because there are no affordable family homes and there are no new people to staff the businesses and make them and their friends wealthy.
The people at the top are only there because of the work done by all the people beneath them, when they start destroying the people beneath them then the people at the top will also fall to the bottom.

Oher · 09/01/2023 13:25

YANBU. The media are trying to make this into a story and it just isn’t one. Of course he has private healthcare, most millionaires do I expect, who gives a shit.

CitronVert22 · 09/01/2023 13:31

The more that the better off opt out, the more what it left becomes a system of last resort. When we should all be holding the government to account for the problems in the NHS. The more we use private healthcare, the more likely we are to say, 'I'm alright, Jack' and not do so.

So it's not ideal. But realistically if you need something done and you have the money I'm not so moral that I'm about to sacrifice my health to my political principles. I'm unsurprised if he has it.

Justforthissnippet · 09/01/2023 13:36

If I could afford private healthcare I would
go private in the same way if I could afford private schooling for children I’d send them there too

Me too. But wouldn’t it be nice if people didn’t feel compelled to spend fortunes protecting themselves and their families from the absolute shit show this country has become due to chronic underinvestment and lack of strategy and direction?

Justforthissnippet · 09/01/2023 13:39

I think people are pissed off because of the wider context. NHS situation is really scaring people and he is refusing to accept the level of the problems, and to acknowledge the major role Brexit and austerity played in it. Plus, his general weasel-like approach to questions and chippy demeanour.

If it was all fine then I’m sure very few people would give a flying fuck about the answer. The context means they care very much more.

NellieJean · 09/01/2023 13:40

Not remotely bothered but he obviously is otherwise he’d have just answered the question. We used to have insurance but don’t anymore. DH needed an operation last year and we paid for it. People ask if we went private to which the answer is yes. Not a big deal odd he has made it one.

Soothsayer1 · 09/01/2023 13:43

He is treating the public with contempt, refusing to be accountable, refusing to acknowledge all the problems caused by the failures and incompetence of his government.
Laughing at us from the comfort of his various luxurious residences.

TheRookie · 09/01/2023 13:47

I know many NHS consultants who have private health care. Mostly because they can afford it and it's quicker!!

MaryMcCarthy · 09/01/2023 13:56

KnittedCardi · 09/01/2023 12:17

Not true. Most private consultants fulfill their NHS contract hours, and then do additional hours privately.

And do you think doctors working outside of their contracted NHS hours makes them better NHS doctors? More alert and responsive, for example? Does it mean better treatment for NHS patients?

MaryMcCarthy · 09/01/2023 13:59

Oher · 09/01/2023 13:25

YANBU. The media are trying to make this into a story and it just isn’t one. Of course he has private healthcare, most millionaires do I expect, who gives a shit.

Not sure if you've read the thread but plenty of people have private healthcare, that's absolutely not the issue. It would be churlish and jealous to criticise anyone who can afford to pay for private healthcare.

The fact he's so keen to avoid the question is the story. Why's he so evasive?

Is evasiveness a trait you respect in a politician?

Jobsfor2023 · 09/01/2023 14:12

People seem to be under the impression it’s just ambulances and A&E that aren’t private - not true. I regularly attend a thrombophilia clinic for a chronic condition with ongoing treatment. This is not offered privately (I have private) and see the NHS haematologist linked to it.

I’m not saying there isn’t a two-tier system but the NHS is not at the stage as treatment of last resort.

SpaceCandyCoconut · 09/01/2023 14:15

I wouldn't expect him to use NHS services no BUT he would definitely have a better understanding of what the NHS means to ordinary people if there was a chance that he, his wife, kids or parents might one day be at the mercy of the care they receive from it.

My parents and in-laws are elderly, have a lot of pre-existing conditions and I feel terrified of what an emergency hospital admittance might mean at the moment. Just praying that it doesn't happen.

BradfordGirl · 09/01/2023 14:16

I agree there are lots of treatments that you can not get privately through private health insurance.
But someone as rich as Sunak can get private consultants from other countries to fly over to treat him. Or he can fly to other countries. He is richer than the King. His private treatment will not be usual private treatment,

BradfordGirl · 09/01/2023 14:17

Usually if you need multi disciplinary health treatment, you are better off in the NHS than private, unless you are super rich.

CitronVert22 · 09/01/2023 14:23

twitter.com/Narramancer/status/1224996840912949249?t=u41Yffkx-22mrbMcYSeH0Q&s=19

This thread explains the problems with the rich isolating themselves from society and from public services. Matters even more if you rule.

Havanananana · 09/01/2023 14:24

Jobsfor2023 · 09/01/2023 14:12

People seem to be under the impression it’s just ambulances and A&E that aren’t private - not true. I regularly attend a thrombophilia clinic for a chronic condition with ongoing treatment. This is not offered privately (I have private) and see the NHS haematologist linked to it.

I’m not saying there isn’t a two-tier system but the NHS is not at the stage as treatment of last resort.

Of course it's not private. Private healthcare companies are only interested in the lucrative, easy stuff. Anything that is difficult, long-term or that requires expensive resources is of no interest to them and will be left to the NHS to deal with while the private companies cream off the profits. When things go wrong or when patients are no longer profitable (or can no longer afford the treatment) the private companies will be nowhere to be seen, sending patients back to the NHS to pick up the pieces.

Private companies contribute little towards the training of nurses, doctors and other medics - the taxpayers and individuals pay most of this. They're selling back to you something that you've already paid for once, and making a profit at the same time, while donating to their favoured politicians so that they can continue to ride the gravy train. As numerous post here confirm, people have been conditioned to such a point that they are willing to pay twice for the treatment. If the government supported a National Health Service that truly was world-class (or even just on a par with that offered across most EU countries) there would be no need for individuals to pay again to access good healthcare.

KnittedCardi · 09/01/2023 14:46

Just a point of order on private health companies making money. Let's look at BUPA for example, or Nuffield, both very active in hospitals, dental, and care homes. Both are "not for profit" organisations. Any profit made goes back into healthcare.

Jobsfor2023 · 09/01/2023 14:46

@Havanananana

I don’t know why you post is in such a tone to me given I’ve earlier posted I’m a big advocate of the NHS and an equitable system. Private is offered to me automatically via work. I could opt out but given the state of the NHS not sure who that is helping exactly.

People who have private are not the enemy and no I don’t vote Tory.

BradfordGirl · 09/01/2023 14:49

@KnittedCardi Bupa has no shareholders but is a private company. They are not charities.