To feel angry at celebrating the NHS

[TaylorSwifting]

The NHS is falling apart and today people are all full of glee at the NHS yippee 75 years today, it’s making me so angry!!!!!!!!!
My family member has been diagnosed with cancer, 2 months down the line and has had no treatment and terrible delays for tests…..still yet to see an oncologist. 2 months!!!!!!!!! Family member only has pain management because us family have begged and fought to get it. It is an utter disgrace and I had no idea how bad things were until this awful diagnosis in our own family.
We are not alone / it hasn’t been a mistake or being lost in the system by accident! Record high cancer patient delays - this is what so many people are facing. I am in utter disbelief!
I won’t be celebrating today.

Nope, I have no hope at all that it will ever stop being a political football. Both the Tories and Labour regard it as such, and so there's little (in fact zero) chance of them both agreeing to work together or stop using it as a political football. Why should they stop now when both parties have been doing it for decades?

Younger people today would be insane not to start paying into private healthcare schemes when it's pretty cheap. That's the reality - both parties know that the NHS in it's current form is dead and buried, but can't say so, so both are accepting privatisation by stealth over a generation or two by getting young people into private healthcare schemes, so the NHS can be relieved of a lot of the work it does and end up a second class/second tier system for those who couldn't afford health insurance.

Exactly the same as is happening with workplace pensions to get the majority to save/invest for their own pensions, so that in a couple of generations time, most will have private pensions and the state pension can wither away for the few who couldn't afford to pay in.

All very sad, but without honestly from politicians of both major parties, there is no other way. Both the NHS and state pension schemes need massive reform, but that will be unpopular, so the changes that are needed won't be made, and younger people can see the writing on the wall and will be making their own provisions.

@Sweetashunni of course people die when they are old or have terminal illnesses, but when the failing healthcare system is leaving people to die in pain from preventable causes that is not acceptable. It's not acceptable that dying people are being stripped of dignity.

As for the comments on people not contributing, what's the solution? You have to prove you add value to society before you get healthcare? Because you're heading into eugenics there

The people slagging off the NHS… careful what you wish for. Do you really want private healthcare! ? We don’t realize how fortunate we are. People died before the NHS because they couldn’t afford medical treatment.
Peoples anger should be at the Tories who have done everything since its inception to underfund it.
It appalls and horrifies me how little some people value it.

The NHS has saved millions of lives ( many of them poorer people) so YABU.

Direct your anger at the government where it belongs.

If people are worthy enough, in your opinion, can we then perhaps not leave them to die? Shall we rank how much they give back to society, hmmm?

How old do you think we should be allowed to reach before you euthanise us? 40? 50?

Doctors are not God, but if they had diagnosed my DF earlier, he would not currently be dying. Too many people are dying from preventable deaths on the NHS.

And FWIW, he got off his arse, and he worked from leaving school to well past retirement age. You can't deny he didn't pay into the system.

I'm a shitty mood too, but I hate everything about your post.

There are systems when no one is left behind.

What is it with people here thinking it's just private and no one affording care or crumbling healthcare system?

I've lived in the USA. Private healthcare is NOT something we want, trust me. It's shit. It's expensive. Many people die unnecessarily. Or go bankrupt for what should be basic healthcare.
And all so a 28 year old doctor can be a millionaire before 30...

Vote for the party that is willing to make it better.

I don't think any political party has the nerve to be honest with the country regarding the NHS. Remember Theresa May's 'dementia tax'? I thought it sounded quite a fair system but Labour under Jeremy Corbyn and the LDs branded it as unfair and so it was shelved and we still have a completely shit adult social care system. We need a completely independent reassessment of the NHS but no political party has the balls to do it, instead it will slowly bankrupt the country whilst more and more of the staff become demoralised and leave. And the better off (and in some cases the not so better off) will go private.

So did healthacre systems in many, many, many countries....

I hate how coercive it is too… like when all the junior doctors were threatening they might accidentally slip and kill nanna on only 45 grand a year but wouldn’t for 50k

Delays with cancer care are actually unusual because there are lots of time based targets and trusts are fined for not meeting them. I'd definitely chase up the cancer referral

As do I, sadly. I’m crippled for life due to negligence, disinterest, and outright cruelty. The only help they are giving me is trauma counselling to address what they’ve done. And I waited years for that.

But why is that the only option, the NHS or private health care? Other posters have written about their experiences with European health care systems. Why can't we at least look at what those health care systems are doing and discuss how their models work in comparison to our own. They have lower waiting times and better cancer survival rates. Is it just about money, or is their something about the way they organise healthcare that allows it to be run more efficiently?

I would like it privatised.

(Matching what happens in mainland Europe)
We need choice.
"If you don't like NHS, go private". In the UK you'd still need to pay for the NHS
In other countries in Europe the money follows you and you can chose where you get your healthcare.

First thing the NHS can do is fire the diversity managers

Lazy, lazy, lazy. More Daily Mail rhetoric.

Direct your anger at the government where it belongs.

THIS. With bells on.

This government have really done a number on everyone on all but the very wealthiest. And somehow practised some dark art to deflect the perceived blame on the very people who are trying, desperately, to make things better.

So sorry to hear about your family member.

Unfortunately, we have too many people with unhealthy lifestyles who are bankrupting the NHS (I know there are social factors involved as well but a lot of people will continue to eat crap, smoke and drink even if money was thrown at their communities).

We also have too many old people with complex health problems which the NHS was not designed for.

It is not the fault of the NHS.

It is not all the fault of the government.

Unfortunately, we have too many people with unhealthy lifestyles who are bankrupting the NHS (I know there are social factors involved as well but a lot of people will continue to eat crap, smoke and drink even if money was thrown at their communities).

We also have too many old people with complex health problems which the NHS was not designed for.

It is not the fault of the NHS.

If the healthcare system cannot evolve around aituations, it needs scrapping and redoing.
Uk is NOT the only one with unhealthy lifestyles and old people.....

It's not a case of NHS or the American system though. There are other countries (shocking I know) and some of them have genuinely good healthcare away from these extremes.
Canada, Australia and Germany spring to mind.

But our political parties won't actually change anything because they've done such a good job making the UK public think the NHS is godlike and cannot be criticised or the only other option is American style insurance. Doesn't hurt they can funnel cash to benefit themselves too.

I would like it privatised.

(Matching what happens in mainland Europe)
We need choice.
"If you don't like NHS, go private". In the UK you'd still need to pay for the NHS
In other countries in Europe the money follows you and you can chose where you get your healthcare.

Yes from what European friends have told me, even if you choose to go private in their countries the appointments are far cheaper. When my dad was in hospital a Bulgarian nurse told me that she wanted to take her daughter to a private dermatologist but in the UK it would cost her about £150 for an initial consultation whereas back in Bulgaria it would be about the equivalent of £30. In the UK private appointments are expensive and you have to jump through hoops to use your private insurance (e.g. get a GP referral for a lot of things).

It’s ace that it was implemented back in 1948, but it’s a nonsense to celebrate it now. Delighted to hear of a previous poster’s happiness about the outcome for her husband, alas that’s not the story for my mum whose death from cancer was agonising. Her care was appalling, such long delays, she just never stood a chance. Nor too my friend who was ignored and who died of cervical cancer aged 36. Anything I need now I’m going private for because I simply can’t access care. My HRT journey has been wholly private too because I couldn’t get near a GP for it. The NHS has an enormous amount of money paid into it, but it’s mismanaged and the service is no longer fit for purpose. We’re lagging woefully behind Europe for outcome.

I'm all in favour of celebrating it, showing how important it is to all of us might influence policy which would help it to survive the coming storms.

Exercise your preference in the polling booth if you want to safeguard the NHS for the future.

What if they can't make it better because of the way the system is designed? Maybe if we changed a few things about the way we organised healthcare (taking some tips from the variety of European systems) it would be possible for the good people trying hard to effect change to be successful.

What I find so frustrating is this idea that if the NHS isn't structured exactly as it is now, then the only other option is the American system.