Is this the end for the NHS?

[Gigihadr]

Looking at the news I don’t really see how this healthcare crisis is going to be resolved.

Should I try and take out private healthcare insurance now? Is it possible to get seen in an emergency privately?

It seems like there aren’t going to be good doctors/ nurses left in the NHS as they seem to be all leaving in droves for NZ/ Aus. Hoping that at least some of the better ones will go into private healthcare and thinking better to sign up sooner rather than get caught ill with nowhere to turn to.

A lot of things are in a state of decline that they won't quickly come out of. Not just NHS and not just the UK.

You might not think it, but these are the "good old days". In 5 years time, remember I said that.

Sure I agree but that doesn’t really address my questions. Debating whether it’s worth getting private healthcare insurance

It didn’t happen by accident. The concept of the NHS has been outdated for so long but the public didn’t want to engage with the idea of an alternative. So now you have been forced to accept that it is dead.

No other country on the planet does healthcare like this country does. They can’t all be wrong.

It’s the only way forward if you want a decent quality of life, given how things are right now.

Yes it’s worth getting insurance, or pay as you need it.

Even if you get private health insurance it won't cover emergencies. There may be a GP service but for heart attacks/broken femurs/car accidents the NHS is the only available service.

Worth looking at a mutual like Benenden, which is a lot cheaper than full private health cover but does cover a lot of the most common reasons for seeing doctors and in particular can speed up diagnosis.

The NHS should have been killed off in its current form decades ago. It would be great if people/politicians could now take seriously the idea of some sort of insurance system.

The NHS now is a completely different thing than it was set up to be. We need to look at other countries systems (not the US) and there needs to be a major overhaul. There is so much wastage and bureaucracy in the NHS that just flinging more money at it is like sieving water.

If everyone had something like Benenden which covers quicker diagnosis and treats some of the more minor things / day surgeries that would free up the NHS for the more major things.

It also doesn't routinely cover chronic illness. So if you have something that can't be cured you need the NHS.

Have any of you had to utilise Benenden? What was the overall experience like? and how much do you pay a month for this?

oh dear. I didn’t realise you couldn’t go private for emergency stuff. Was hoping there would be something

Part of the problem I think is weak leadership but also shit stirring , lying media.
When TMay wanted to increase tax to pay for elderly care , Labour and their papers labelled it a dementia tax and the stupid public lost the plot
If a reasonable Government and their opposition could have a genuine debate -with experts advising the public , we might come up with something but nasty media and the gov ,bbc , any Twitter twatter being given airtime, news time, headlines and scare stories means nothing gets done.

I used Benenden some years ago in connection with heart issues and 24-hr ECG. They were very happy to authorise it and useful data was collated which helped uncover what was going on.

Also used the GP line which was actually less useful in the circumstances but very accessible and easy to use.

I think it's £11/month/person (oh - I see it's gone up to £12.80) but full details are here: https://www.benenden.co.uk/

You expect random strangers on mumsnet to tell you what to do ? If you can afford it do it. The rest of us peasants will have to wait like everyone else I guess.

If I could afford it I would @Gigihadr. It is great for speeding up diagnostics. I was put on a 3 month waiting list by my Trust. My insurance got me the MRI the next week.

I wouldn't have been able to afford 3 months off work and then time off for the surgery.

Does anyone know how other countries (not the US!) do healthcare?

What other models are there?

If you do what the government want and get private insurance make sure you that you read the small print as to what will be covered and what hospitals you can use and what their out of hours medical cover is.
I have seen cases of patients "running out of cover" during their treatment (including cancer), times when things have gone wrong and neither hospital or doctor taking responsibility (doctors are not employed by private hospitals) but more concerned getting paramedics to transfer patient over to the local a and e.
Not every doctor or nurse will be going to Australia.
Private medicine is synonymous with cherry picking.
This government is just so incompetent and dishonest (quite happy to give money to "lady" moan for unusable PPE but not for salaries)

If you value the NHS don't vote Tory as they are slowly privatising it. People are now looking into health insurance as the NHS is so bad and that's exactly what they want.

I say this as a long time Tory voter. I can see where the NHS is going and it's heartbreaking.

We have been immensely lucky with NHS health care. DH has cardiac issues, and I have had breast cancer, and it has been a concern for both of us over the last five or ten years. Apart from that, we are in good health. But our local (superb) hospital has kept tabs on us, and checked us out regularly. Even now, with the strikes, we have been seen on schedule and every test/screen has been done.

Well for a start the vast majority of doctors in private are NHS. If everyone goes private they will just be on “private waiting lists” it’s already beginning, most of the surgeons at our local private hospital have waiting lists of at least six weeks for the first consultation. There are a finite amount of HCPs in the UK.

After spending 21 hours in hospital with my mum , I can confidently say that the NHS is broken.
No food, no water, I had to go to the hospital shop to get food and water.
And she endured, after I left to go to bed, she endure a member of staff rifle through her handbag who got angry with her because she had no money in it. I had removed her purse.

This is exactly my worry!! It’s so broken

Not saying you are wrong to do this as anyone would if they could. But all you are doing is jumping the queue and NHS patients wait a bit longer. If everyone does it we will be back to square one.

Yes exactly this

The doctors who don't leave the UK are also good - there's just not enough of them.

As a previous poster said, it's the same practitioners doing the private and NHS work so having not enough doctors affects both sectors.