To think the level of state involvement many posters expect is bonkers?

[FaeryRing]

It seems like there is nothing the state shouldn’t be responsible for any more! Feeding your kids, getting them to school, hiring ‘behaviour specialists’ for every classroom because parents don’t want to discipline their own children, giving you money towards virtually anything you ask for because it’s not fair you have to pay for anything yourself.. I find it absolutely wild and don’t think it’s at all realistic or representative of what most adults believe?

@RosesAndHellebores This happened last week

Someone i know has just had cataract surgery in his right eye and nowhere in the initial NHS letter or texts or phone calls did it say he couldnt drive for a week afterwards, They didnt tell him that till AFTER the procedure. So now he is stuck at home with very low gas and electric because he cant drive to corner shop to top up.
Why cant he walk??? Because he is still waiting for his knee replacement to be done by same NHS and his mobility is fucked due to the (so far) five year wait.
If they had let him know about the not driving BEFORE the procedure he would have topped up extra beforehand. Oh and hes retired so i guess they thought it didnt matter that he couldnt drive for a week despite his limited mobility.

A third of a pint. Half a pint would have been even worse!!

The inability or refusal to understand false economy is mind boggling (and depressing).

They want less state dependancy (as we do we all) but think it can be achieved by wishful thinking and a hefty amount of kicking someone when they're down. Plus ignoring the (often large) role luck plays in life. Shit happens sometimes, however strong someone's 'work ethic' and 'personal responsibility is.

Poorly funded public services mean people don't get timely and effective support, so they end up in a bigger mess, worse circumstances, and in need of more or longer term help.

I'm no expert on Singapore but one thing I do know is that they have much, much higher availability of the equivalent of council/social housing than we do. It may not be luxurious but it is a priority for the state.

Yep. About 80% of Singapore housing is public housing.

(as we do we all)

Do you? Well it’s higher now that’s the issue we face.

@EasternStandard

False economy is why state dependancy is so high now.

Cutting public services funding, and privatising a lot of it so it's now run on a shoestring by private companies (who despite the shoddy service provided and poorly paid staff, get millions for the contract).

That means people don't get effective and timely help. Which means they end up in worse circumstances, more of a crisis, poorer health, and in need of more help than they originally did.

As a result of the false economy, higher numbers of people end up dependant on the state, and with more costly needs, and are dependant for longer periods of time.

I don’t agree.

Mouhahaha!!!! This had me belly laughing.

they will ask parents to send their children with a toothbrush and toothpaste. Put the child name on the toothbrush and toothpaste. Probably have to follow the colors of the school…no glitter, bows or spiderman on it please. Please practice at home.

children will be leaving school 30min later than usual because of this which will break avoc lots of parents timetables and probably causing lots of issues.

that is what happens when schools are doing parents stuff.

To be entirely fair, had my children's teachers communicated that school was going to take responsibility for my children's tooth brushing, I'd have told them to stuff off. We had to back away from the Head such was their halitosis - their front teeth were noticeably delayed too.

I was at the breast clinic the other day - never ideal. I had to wait 40 minutes or so before being seen which was totally acceptable in my view. This one woman kept going up and complaining how others who came in after her were being seen. The receptionist calmly told her that they were seeing different consultants. Still she whinged. It’s free, you’re lucky to get it.

Well that’s fine in principle but these things require more administration for the paediatrician and school nurse etc. I have been through this because we had to make a complaint re the school and it’s several months to see the school nurse and huge delay to get the paediatricians input/ letter. So that will create more issues for parents who are already battling with SEN provision in EHCP’s etc. Ultimately a redraft of the EHCP

I can assure you that I sent my daughter to school aged 4 able to read and write and she learnt pretty much nothing in reception and she was most certainly dry by aged 2! She’s now off to Big 4 as a graduate entry.

However my son could not even swallow for the first couple of years of life, had diagnosed hypotonia and resulting bowel issues. As it was we had to go to ERIC for advice and finally the school nurse rang after several months… we provided all necessary gloves/ wipes and change. It was pretty awful and really humiliated my son. The school was just not equipped for that sort ot thing and at the time he only had 1:1 in the am.

Even when he was on movicol at times it was not pretty - we kept him home for the 2 week diarrhoea changeover of meds as no way could school cope.

In reality there should be separate provision for high intelligent ASD and then there would be more capability to deal with issues like low tone/ constipation etc The only choice for
that for us was a private SEN school some 50 miles away requiring huge fees and taxi - which we did not want. But that cost to the tax payer at today rates including transport would be about £70,000. So we saved the public money persevering with the unfit for purpose mainstream system.

I have known children who are unable to function properly in school due to home circumstances such as not having a table or even a pen at home to do homework. Also teenagers who don't know how to use a knife and fork to eat with. There will always be instances where stepping in is crucial.
Some people just shouldn't have children. Ever.

Everyone has a phone and everyone has the internet. Everyone is able to google, easily, potty training guidelines or how to brush their child’s teeth. Just as everyone is able to google screen time advice or dietary advice.

it is not hard. People just do not give a fuck to do it.

and some people know and are “too busy”.

Its a direct result of a policy that makes having children the only way of even getting a chance of being housed.

Absolutely 👏👏👏

Totally agree with this. DH moved out of the NHS to a private company who is contracted into the NHS. He thought the NHS was poorly run. He has been totally shocked by this private company and at the moment is completing a form for an NHS job.
The private company are inefficient, following practices that were outdated 25 years ago, and seeing very few people as the bureaucracy is so badly run. He has been totally shocked. This company will be being paid a lot of money for a standard of service that would not be acceptable in the NHS. But someone is making money.

Regrettably my MIL is a former deputy head teacher. She is nearly 88. She can't use a knife and fork and couldn't teach her children to. DH had a lot of catching up to do when he went to uni.

Yes re the extras beyond basic state pension (SERPS and S2P), but the basic state pension is only dependant upon "credits" not the amount of NICs paid, as I said.

There’s a thread running right now by a mum of two boys who have been suspended from school for getting into fights on the bus home from school. She wants TAs or prefects to be onese buses to supervise kids on their way home.

Tbf, she sounds like an exasperated mother who is upset her boys have been suspended (and that the younger one was picked on, proud the elder stepped in to defend him). But WHY is the natural instinct to ask OTHER PEOPLE to do her/the father’s for her/him? I havent posted on that thread as my point has already been made. But a TA?? A prefect - also a child?? Why can’t people take responsibility for their own children?

He could have asked at the consultations beforehand or could have googled.

Classic example of not taking responsibility and expecting others to do things/tell him things that he could easily have found out for himself.

Classic NHS apologist "it's free, you're lucky etc". It's not sodding free. Taxpayers are paying a small fortune for it. It's the "it's free" attitude of some NHS staff which needs stamping out as it leads to the "can't be arsed to provide a decent service" mentality.

Classic gaslighting.

MN should have googled.

Also MN dont use Dr Google. Trust in the NHS. HE was told it was a simple procedure and they kept repeating this like Jive Bunny. You dont tell someone its a simple procedure and then drop the "btw you cant drive for a week" bomb after the procedure.

He did drive there LAST AUGUST for a consultation and got slapped with a £75 parking fine when they ran late. And he could walk to the corner shop if they had done his knee in the last five years. oh and i DID google this after he told me no driving and found loads of different answers so even if he had googled it how would he have known which was correct

@taxguru your contradictory posts there are really not a good look Ageism creeping in there i suspect.

So what's the difference between "credits" or "contributions" versus NIC then?
In my younger years when working full time and long before NMW, I'd get a letter inviting me to top up by around 250 - 300 to qualify for state pension, which always made me shrug a bit because all money in went out on the necessities and I didn't have that amount accessible - cos life. And also you have to pay in the right amount for is it 30 years to qualify?

Yeah, financially illiterate I am, because when you have little money you tend to feel it's all out of your league....

It’s pretty obvious isn’t it that if you have surgery in your eye you won’t be able to drive for a period of time afterwards?

Not just one eye no.