To think people have inflated view of our healthcare system?

[Runaway0]

I've had treatment abroad twice and I wouldn't hesitate to get elective treatment abroad again this was the EU. The staff spoke perfect English there was an ICU in the hospital. I was offered pre op sedation because i was anxious ,I had my own private room , I was nursed with one other patient and there was 2 nurses on shift so 1:1 ratio my pain was perfectly managed. In comparison over here ive been expected to have gynaecological procedures with no pain relief. I had great protein filled meals with fish plenty of vegetables great for healing. (High carb slop offered here.)

I had dressings changed , post op care wirh docfor and I stayed 4 weeks to ensure everything was healing well. I keep hearing people say they would never get treatment abroad you will die etc they treat the UK as some holy grail of healthcare. People who go abroad are stupid etc.I have been left in pain multiple times in our health care system. My DD when she fell ill in Singapore had a team of doctors waiting for her at the hospital.
Preparing to be flamed but AIBU to think our healthcare system isn't that great? Many people haven't actually experienced care abroad so assume ours must naturally be the best?

I have lived in 4 different countries over the last 15 years and yeah the UK healthcare system is the worst of them all. In no other country have I experienced such long waiting times and it’s also generally easier to access specialist care in other places. Not having a dedicated gynecologist or pediatrician is only a thing in the UK when I compare to other places.
So no YANBU. Big part of the issue with NHS is obviously funding.

Why on earth would you 'prepare to be flamed'? It's hardly a unique viewpoint especially of late. Every other thread is talking about the NHS collapsing

Yes, you’re treated as a customer who has choices and needs care.

In the UK it’s often as though you’re lucky to have what you’re given, if it’s anything at all. And good luck figuring out the pathway to accessing it. Obviously there’s issues with being a customer (can you afford it?) but when the UK has broken down so far then it doesn’t matter if it’s free at the point of service, when you can’t access that service.

Many will say because its free we should be grateful for anything. I'm actually shocked by the quality of care here vs abroad nothing to do with the staff who are hard working it's the ratios.

Ooh goody good goody another nhs bashing thread! Can't wait!

Er, no OP, people do not have an inflated view of the NHS. It’s on its knees. Everyone knows this. Do you live under a rock?

Singapore it cost 20 Singapore dollars £10 at the time for assessment and treatment of our DD. No waiting required DHs mum is a citizen, I think the vast majority of people could afford £10 for treatment there's a reluctance to pay for any healthcare here.

@Runaway0 ok then you go off to turkey and pay for your elective surgeries you need. No doubt you'll be back when you get some god awful raging infection like I've seen before, and then you'll be desperate for our 'shitty health care system' to fix you for free. If you choose to go abroad for surgery and get complications you should have to pay to have it fixed here.

Op I completely agree! I had elective surgery abroad last year and got so many hysterical comments about the " hospitals/doctors abroad". The hospital was absolutely spotless and the care I received second to none! I would rather go there for surgery than take my chances on an understaffed NHS ward!

The system is great, it’s just that you get what you pay for and the government has grossly underfunded the NHS for over a decade. That great care you got, it cost more money. You can’t get good quality on a shoestring budget. Numerous studies have debunked the government propaganda that the NHS is inefficient before anyone says they are not undefended they’re just a bunch of wasters. The NHS is actually more efficient in terms of resources and spending its funds compared to clinical outcomes than the vast majority of healthcare systems in the OECD.

And i am an ex hcp who worked in the NHS! The decline in standards is shocking!

I guess understandably people are worried that politicians (who have been known to cock stuff up) might just make everything worse if they try e.g. to change us over to the German system - that somehow they might contrive to get us the chunky insurance payments but with not a noticeably improved standard of healthcare, because their buddies creamed off a big portion of the money. Particularly after all the PPE procurement scandals and various others (just pick up ANY edition of Private Eye...).

It annoys me though that any suggestion of change is interpreted as "they want us to have the US system only worse so ALL THE POOR PEOPLE DIE" - you could have MP Chris Sensible of Saneshire saying"The French system is better, let's switch to that" and they'd immediately be drowned out by accusations of links with Big American Health Business and a desire to only stuff the pockets of the rich, even if there was 0 evidence of that.

There's been so much incompetence, mismanagement and corruption that the trust needed for positive change isn't there.

I haven't had treatment in Turkey , I don't believe their medical system is regulated enough. I've been to an EU country and Singapore. I also stay for the full recovery period so any complications are picked up and treated before I go home. So many people fly home much too early. I have NEVER asked for NHS care related to my elective procedures. Turkey isn't regulated like the UK but other countries are.

So how did your DD pay the going rate for a citizen then? This says it’s about Sing$29 to $68 to see a consultant if you’re a citizen, but Sing$131 to $148 for a nonresident.

You do realise Singaporeans pay more out of pocket for their healthcare than even the Americans do?

https://www.sgh.com.sg/patient-care/visiting-specialist/charges-payments-singapore-general-hospital

I agree with you,@Paperbagsaremine and it is very sad.

Before the pandemic DH had life saving surgery on the NHS followed by almost a week of brilliant care on the HDU - he was stuck there because of bedblocking.

But nursing care when he moved to the ward was awful. I saw the contrast. Sepsis set in. So DH became critically ill and required a lot more attention than if they had just treated him properly in the first place. My blood still boils recalling it.

And everything is worse now.

Grandma is a citizen this was around 8 years ago. You are quoting the adult rates Peads is a lot lower it was 20 sgd and she had excellent care.

While UK’s healthcare system may not be the best is far from being the worst. I’ve lived in 5 different countries and unfortunately have had health issues in another 4-5 countries and I’d say UK is somewhere in the middle (at least was 6-7 yrs ago when I last had to use it). Which country are you referring to if I may ask (it’s always nice to know in which country health care is great).

PS We worked in America for 15 years and participated in a brilliant Health Maintenance Organisation centred around a large university medical centre. For participants it worked a lot like a much better version of the NHS, with small copays. It was funded by employers, with state and federal governments funding the participation of the poor and elderly. Nonprofit. In fact, much like the French system and much the best medical care I’ve ever had

Paeds isn’t that low and your DD was the patient, not her grandmother. Singapore doesn’t allow dual citizenship. I’m just asking is your DD a citizen of Singapore? Because it doesn’t make sense to say it’s so cheap to get healthcare abroad outside the U.K. when the price you paid for your DD wasn’t the price a foreigner from abroad would pay for their DD.

That was what we were billed by the hospital for DD unless you think I should ask them to pay more? So yes it was cheap. I also had a procedure which was cheaper to pay over there vs paying private here. I think people will have to get their heads around paying for healthcare as the current system is not sustainable.

First, we do pay for healthcare. Second, the system is sustainable it’s just been cut to the bone. Third, most of the country doesn’t have the money to pay more for healthcare not now when an extra 85% of homeless people died on the streets, when 45 people a DAY die due to no heat in their homes, when millions cannot even afford food to eat and are dependent on food banks. You think the desperately poor are going to go to a doctor or A&E if there is a co-pay? No, the excess death rate will go up even more than it has already.

I have lived in three different countries and they all tell their people the same propaganda that their heath service s the best in the world and their school system is great and their steel is the most sought after, lol.
yes overrated

Best healthcare I have ever seen is in the US. My parents went there for treatment. Clean hospitals, lots of staff around, no waiting, the rooms were like hotels and had a wine list. I would be thrilled if we followed the US model.

@Emotionalstorm I can confirm after living in the US the quality of care is absolutely superior to anything I’ve ever experienced in EU/UK. My prenatal experience and giving birth was also absolutely top notch, I had my own room for 4 days after c-section and was given nutritious meals 5 times a day. Expensive though if you don’t have a very good insurance, for that reason I still like the European model better. I don’t know enough about the options in the US for low income people Obamacare etc., they exist but I don’t know the details.

I was extremely impressed with Turkey when I went in 2009 and DH sliced his leg open and needed stitches. Sometimes I think people underestimate how good it is in other countries