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?

No. If anything people bash it much more than is reasonable.

The money is there in many cases though the actual staff aren't available. Why? Because people abuse our nurses, demand more and more from the service and misuse it.

I have worked in the NHS for decades - at one point my average "did not attend" rate was 25 HOURS a month. TWENTY FIVE HOURS of non-attendance. I worked in outpatients so I couldn't just randomly book someone else into those slots. We have wait lists going into years and yet people don't respect or appreciate what is being offered. It is terribly demoralising and I often think "why are you wasting our time?"

There is also a huge issue with bureaucratic BS which doesn't help. We have to document EVERY TINY THING to the point that we spend upward of 60% of our working days on documenting things, in case someone complains.

Then there are so many issues with the way things are joined up. I had a medical complication not long back and went to A&E. I was told I needed to see a specialist and I had to go back to my GP to get a referral to that specialist. A specialist that was literally OVER THE CORRIDOR! I asked why they couldn't just send the referral over themselves but got told that it has to go through the GP because of commissioning. So it was a few weeks for a GP appointment just to ask them to refer on. Then multiple weeks before I got a specialist appointment.

I used to love the job when we could assess and treat complex conditions. It sound be seamless. If I have a problem with a patient I should be able to call another department and say "hey could you pop down at some point and review this case please?" and it just happens. Instead we have to do a formal referral, that gets triaged, then it gets put on a list blah blah blah. It is a never ending shitshow. Back in the "good ol days" we could have a ten minute chat with a colleague from another area and have no hassle. Its now a nightmare because of funding issues.

I always bang on about this but we need a few things here:

1. People need to take MUCH more responsibility for their health. I recently got told I was overweight. I know that can lead to diabetes, heart disease etc. What did I do? Lost 8kg by dieting and exercising (and NOT lying to myself about what I am eating).
2. Realise all the additional extras chip away at what is offered. Carers assessments? More money directed from clinical care. Equality officers. Same. Satisfaction questionnaires? Ditto. Patient outreach groups. Argh.
3. If people DNA appointments there should be a charge. I don't buy that people can't let us know in advance for a huge majority of situations. They are lazy and it isn't okay.
4. We need to get away from treatment to prevention. This means taking ownership and active steps to avoid getting ill. For example, I have a friend who works in psychiatry. People arrive having a poor diet, poor sleep hygiene, using alcohol to excess, sitting indoors and not socialising... these should be addressed before they even hit my colleagues office!

There is also a tendency (and it is a BIG issue) of people demanding to get diagnosis when it will not have any benefit for them and/or help for conditions that simply aren't all that severe. I've often had patients say they want an assessment because they are "curious" about whether they have a condition. CURIOUS! No. If you want to get assessed to satiate your curiosity you can pay for it, privately. At £1000 a pop.

I get very passionate about this. The NHS is misused and abused to a massive degree. It was NOT set up as a catch all for every social and health-care ill. Originally it was for actual health issues - now it is a monolith that is expected to take responsibility for everyone's (often poor) life choices.

I think people are protective over it. I get a bit defensive if anyone slags it off! I know there are massive problems but the basis on which it was started, the idea of universal health care, free at the point of use IS something that should be defended. It’s just shit that it’s being dismantled by Tory shit show.

I can only speak for the services that I’ve had access to recently which have been excellent. Had an appointment at my gp surgery on 14th April, hospital appointment on 27th April and appointment for procedure on 6th may.
I give no credit to the government for this. The quality care was provided solely by committed staff within the NHS.
we should be looking at the reasons why not everyone has the same positive experience. If one Trust can do it then why can’t others.

The ACA (Affordable care act or Obamacare) has stopped Lifetime limits on insurance policies. https://www.hhs.gov/healthcare/about-the-aca/benefit-limits/index.html

I had fertility treatment in the czech Republic. After many failed ivf cycles here.
Absolutely amazing care and professionalism. Oh and it worked too

I was with you till you got to point 4...

People who are distressed for whatever reason understandably get into bad and unhelpful habits and find it hard to get out of them. So of course that's how they present.

And "curiosity" over a niggling condition could save a patient's life. I kept going backwards and forwards to GPs who took your same dismissive tone about my health worries.... Eventually,. thankfully, a switched on optician spotted my ptosis and twigged that I might have Myasthenia Gravis. Thanks to the lack of "curiousity" from GPs I missed a chance for an early diagnosis, with better treatment options. It also meant that in all those years without diagnosis (including the pandemic years) if I had had an emergency health situation I may have been treated in a way that made me much iller or was fatal. So I struggle to forgive the GPs who didn't want to investigate further into what was making me ill. They left me hugely vulnerable for years