We need to start charging for NHS services

[Fragmentedbrain]

£15 for the GP
£20 for A&E
NHS routes to paid-for fast track treatment
Options to pay for nicer rooms

We need to stop putting working people on disability benefits for want of a functioning health service it's barbaric

£10 now would be £50 the minute the Tories get back in. Before you know it, the cost will be £100s and there will be stories about people dying from treatable illnesses.

Worse, a lot of ill people would come into work and pass on their pneumonia and other contagious diseases.

Before you know it, there will be higher payments for operations and cancer treatment.

The NHS is run down because the Tories starved it of investment. Labour is now spending billions on it. Literally three hospitals near me will receive over £1 billion to refurbish. In three years time it will feel a lot better.

I was told in October I would have to wait two years for the operation I’m having in two weeks.

It is getting better, but it takes longer to rebuild than to destroy it.

Massive increase in the number of elderly people with complex co-morbidities

Massive increase in obesity related ill health

Sky high public expectations.

What about people who play ‘extreme’ sports? Or any sports really if we take it to the same degree as alcohol and drugs?

Football injury - £50?
Rock climbing- £100?
Drowning (rowing) - £500?

I lived in Australia for a long time and always felt that system was a reasonable balance of everything. No one is unable to access health care because they are poor/unemployed/whatever, but if you earn above a threshold then you're heavily encouraged via tax rebates to get private health insurance. You benefit from the private insurance, and you usually pick one that is best for your stage in life - for example as a working single 24yo, I choose one that was cheaper but didn't include maternity services because I didn't need it! The actual level of care is the same for private or non private (they will not, for example, in A&E decide to treat a private patients broken toe first instead of a non private patients heart attack), private patients just get additional perks like nicer/private hospital rooms, shorter waiting lists for non life threatening things eg hip replacements etc. It felt like a good balance of everything 🤷‍♀️

I was always able to access the care I needed both as a private and non private patient in a reasonable time frame, we didn't have to wait hours and hours in minor injuries when I for example had one of my many accidents as a child 😂 and never struggled to see the GP either when I was non private as a student, or when I was later working and therefore now a private patient

I think it should work both ways for missed/cancelled appointments - but attendance should be free.
So you don't turn up to a booked hospital appointment and get a £50 fine. But if the hospital cancels (for any reason) and they have to pay you £50 plus any expenses incurred (I've had appointments cancelled after arriving at the hospital, paying for the train, because a member of staff didn't turn up).

Most people who have chronic conditions that doesn’t mean free prescriptions pay monthly anyway. I do for my asthma meds

Also the increase in very expensive therapies, particularly for cancer.

People are likely to survive cancer but then have long term complications of treatment - the cancer charities don't like to talk about the difficulties of being a 'surviver' with early menopause, infertility, cognitive problems and the late complications of radiotherapy to look forward to. All that longterm care is expensive.

In relation to when it was set up then yes these.

This is what I was going to say, too. Whenever it’s discussed here, the choice is always presented as keep the NHS model or have a US style health service. There are many good European models we could copy, and as you say people aren’t dropping dead just because they don’t have the NHS.

Something needs to change that is for certain.

PIL lived in Spain for a few years and we still have friends there. It is 'free at the point of delivery' but the timings are waaaay better than here.

When MIL fell in Spain, the ambulance was there in under 10 minutes, she was seen at the hospital within 30 mins or so, and had a Consultants appointment 3 weeks later.

When FIL fell on his driveway and broke his hip in Bristol, it was over 5 hours for the ambulance. A neighbour found a pillow and blanket for him.

PIL had so many dreadful experiences with the NHS that it can't just be 'one-offs'. The service is often dreadful.

I think the Spanish service is regional and a mix of state and private, but the health service deals with the insurance companies.

Whatever it is they are doing, we need to take note.

All right, Farage.

I will defend to the absolute last the notion of a health service which is free at the point of access, paid for by those (including myself) who can afford to do so, so that those who can't can access medical help without having to worry about whether they can afford it.

Put an extra 1p on income tax as an uplift if needs be, the idea that people on the breadline might have to choose between food and seeing a GP is absolutely reprehensible in any civilised country.

Definitely, lots more angry people.

I work in an urgent care clinic and every day at least a third of the appointments are "my child had a fever last night, could you check them out" said child is difficult to "check out" because they bouncing around the consult room looking the picture of health. Essentially given the history presentation there's no real assessment required or undertaken - the only meaningful thing is trying to give the safety netting advice/parent education on things to watch out for/prompt for when they would benefit from a review.

If they've paid £20 for that they're going to be miffed - but you've just told me what is on the NHS website for fever - well yes that's all that was needed.

I know 3 people who have died in countries where healthcare is not free. Just because they hoped they'd get better rather than paying to see a doctor. One went to church to pray instead, died the next day. No idea what of, could have been appendicitis, we will never know.

Many disabled people claiming disability benefits work full time or at least part time.

I am of working age, work full time, and I get free prescriptions for life - without them, I will die.

This is an incredibly sensitive topic, but I think we need to see data on how money is being spent because difficult choices are coming and we need to understand them. It isn’t just about fertility and cosmetic treatments, either. (I don’t even think the second are on the NHS except in cases of disfigurement, which is absolutely proper) It cuts a wide swathe.

NICE approved lifesaving treatment are surely the top priority and in many areas we are not meeting targets. Then we need to decide what we are willing to pay for, how much we are willing to psy, and which amongst us should (proportionately) bear that burden.

It won’t be easy.

In New Zealand GP visits are usually 15 minutes. If you need more than that your need to book a double appointment. We pay about $90 (£45) for an adult although there are concessions for some people. Do you not pay for GPs in England? Our biggest problem is getting an appointment as we have a doctor shortage

This has been the goal for some time. I guess we are finally here.

Precisely.

The same goes for higher earners having to pay to use NHS (debated on Sky today) - why to bother? we'll be having most of population on benefits with this attitude. Who's going to pay for this all?

We do contribute to our care. It’s called tax.

There are plenty of ways the government could save money rather than penalise those of us who have a) paid into the system all our working lives and b) only see a dr when really necessary. Those of us who work and contribute don't have the luxury of being able to book appointments any time of the day so there is less availability. Those who don't contribute won't have to pay and will have more choice of appointments. It's bad enough you can't see a dentist without paying through the nose don'tstart denying us healthcare too.

Good luck getting anyone to care for you in your old age.

Look down on carers? +??
I and many others I know hold you in the highest regard.
There is a definitive need for improved pay and conditions and career progression for carers

I live in Ireland, and while I appreciate at this stage in my life that it works fairly well for me (I can afford the cost now) when I had several small children there was no free GP visits for small kids and we really thought twice about taking them to the GP.

Also some GP practices are not happy about taking 'free' patients since the government pays them so little for each free patient. When they did introduce free GP care for kids, suddenly my GP had no appointments for my child.

Removing the free prescription would solve the issues overnight.