The NHS. We need to fight to keep it.

[Differentforgirls]

My Mil is 87. Last year (around September) she was bleeding from her vagina and went to her GP.

The GP referred her to hospital for tests, which she got quickly.

It was cancerous polyps in her womb so she got further tests to ensure they hadn’t spread and was referred for surgery.

Tonight she has been discharged from hospital after numerous tests over the intervening months and a surgery yesterday (keyhole).

She’ll get follow up treatment too.

All NHS, where she has been treated with dignity, respect and kindness.

It might not be what it was due to cuts but it’s still something we should be proud of.

She’ll celebrate her 88th birthday next month, as an OAP in social housing with nothing but her pension, because of the NHS.

AIBU for thinking the NHS is something to be proud of and fight to keep?

Totally agree th nhs should be taken much better care of by our government.
3 babies, 2 emergency c section, many surgeries , bad car accidents . Couldn’t fault it

I totally agree. Also, people need to wake up to Farages NHS policies re NHS. He would disband it and replace it with tge American model.

I am not British, but I noticed sinced I moved here, the English have this random and weird obsession with the NHS.

It is put on a golden perch, whereby they are grateful for crumbs, because there is a notion that it is free. The NHS is not free. It is heavily funded by the taxpayer and whilst not the worst system in a global context, it is nowhere near the best.

There is also another deluded belief that the only difference between the NHS and private healthcare is the waiting list. This is a borderline dangerous myth. I am very fortunate to have top tier private healthcare through my job, which covers my family also.

The delivery and service of that private healthcare is outstanding, whereby it covers treatment and medicine that the NHS simply won't fund, and blood tests are significantly more comprehensive.

The NHS delivers the bare minimum, unbeknowst to a lot of people. It is also entrenched in corruption, and are the worst employer in Britain.

The rate of infant mortality is also mind blowing. Hospitals which are riddled with scandals, in which, if that was any other European country, it would be shut down immediately. The NHS are also unfazed by death. "Lessons will be learned" is a common mantra released by its PR spokesperson when somebody blows the whistle on the trust (that's if they haven't been fired first for daring to speak out, that is).

They are a defensive institution, along with the police and the DVLA. They robustly defend employment tribunals, by throwing taxpayers' money at fancy Barristers, even when the Claimant's case is beyond well-founded and rich in merit.

Please, with respect to you lovely British...stop being too grateful.

A terrific post.

@Betterbeanon78 ,

I think you have to be careful to eulogise private healthcare. It is brilliant….until it isn’t!

Two of my friends insurers (also top tier) refused to pay out when conditions got very expensive and complex. And, of course, when you need them, your premium can be doubled on a whim.

Also, private is not great for diagnosing complex conditions, as they can’t assemble large multidisciplinary teams.

However, I agree with the rest of your post.

Most of mainland Europe seem to have systems which deliver excellent healthcare at moderate cost.

I have to disagree with an aspect of your post.

Firstly, with corporate healthcare, there is no risk of a premium increasing as it is funded by the employer (albeit, the BIK is still payable by the employee), and to keep the client "sweet" (i.e. the Employer), Private Health companies tend to authorise every claim as pushing back on it could lead to internal complaints to HR and they run the risk of the client eventually switching to another provider.

Secondly, the private hospitals are robustly regulated, whereby MDT teams is a given. They are bound by strict healthcare regulations and the same oaths as the public sector. I experienced this firsthand personally also with an operation I had in August last year. The input and delivery was second to none, and the pre operative assessments were more thorough in fact.

I do agree that Europe have, by far, a superior model implemented.

I also am aware that it is an unjust system to have one sector of society having the ability to avail of private healthcare via fortunate circumstances, yet another doesn't and are stuck at the mercy of the NHS.

Then talk about the Scottish health service, not the whole of the UK’s.

It’s my thread. If you don’t want to talk about Scottish NHS, there’s no need to post.

I’m happy to talk about the Scottish health service! It’s not funded in the same way as England’s though so they shouldn’t be conflated.

That’s a ridiculous statement. Scotland is in the UK and Scots are represented by MPs Westminster. I’m in Scotland and didn’t vote for the current government - that doesn’t mean I can’t or don’t have an opinion on their decisions and policies.

Do you mean you didn't vote in the UK elections?

Scotland is part of the UK, anyone who doesn't use their vote in the UK elections has zero right to complain about the outcome.

It's funded by UK taxpayers exactly the same way as the English/Welsh NHS.

And it spends huge amounts of money which could probably find much better uses by insisting on being separate and duplicating the entire management structure and drug approval mechanism.

But hey, independence, yeah? (Shame that doesn't apply to actually paying for it.)

Not everything is great about private healthcare. Out of hours on site specialist provision and intensive care facilities for example. If I was undergoing major risk surgery in the UK, I'd definitely stick with the NHS. Too many private patients came to us when things went wrong as the specialist facilities and staff just weren't available in the private sector. I think unless you've worked in both private and NHS care, most people don't realise this.

With respect.... You bought up Labour and damage...

What have i said that is not true?

All you ve done is what all those on the right do, snipe & spout "European Health Ins Systems" without any understanding of how and who is funding it.

As if Insurance is free.

Please!

Out of hours...by which you mean A&E.

It is a shambles, with staff at breaking point and I dread an emergency as I would have no choice but to use it.

I have never heard of anybody going to the NHS to fix an alleged botch job the private sector inflicted. It is the opposite in fact, with people who aren't fortunate enough to have health cover incurring debt to self-fund the mistakes of the NHS.

Your post is evident of your employment with the NHS, in which, covers my original point i.e. that they are a defensive institution.

Based on 2024 polling, approximately 46% of NHS and social care staff planned to vote for the Labour Party in the UK General Election, with only 12% supporting the Conservatives.

QED.

The Scottish government makes decisions about how to use the money, and they do it differently to England and Wales.

One of the current limitations on private healthcare in the UK is the ability and willingness of the NHS to ultimately “rescue” complex/expensive patients needing ITU or major procedures. That is not the case in other European countries where the private sector can compete more effectively, both sectors being full service. We need the private sector to offer more, and to increase patient choice for all healthcare, not just the ingrown toenail etc.

@Betterbeanon78 also makes an excellent point about corruption. Through my work, I came across many negligence claims against NHS hospitals. They tend to prompt wails of “compensation money should go towards patient care!” no matter how egregious the NHS negligence, and harm to the patient, often was. Meanwhile, the NHS would instruct firms amongst the most expensive lawyers in the business. It seemed as though their practice was to delay and occasionally bully and intimidate claimants - who were often the parents of babies or children left disabled, or disabled themselves - sometimes literally settling at the door of court, with precious little regard for the stress, trauma or legal costs involved to the victim. The NHS is a devious, mendacious and utterly self-serving example of a Soviet-era monopoly and we should rid society of the “right think” sycophancy it seems to engender, of which this thread is an example.

I’m not the one doing the conflating. It’s been mentioned numerous times.

Same here which is why I’ve mentioned it throughout the thread!

Yes I did. I didn’t vote Labour.

One of the current limitations on private healthcare in the UK is the ability and willingness of the NHS to ultimately “rescue” complex/expensive patients needing ITU or major procedures. That is not the case in other European countries where the private sector can compete more effectively, both sectors being full service. We need the private sector to offer more, and to increase patient choice for all healthcare, not just the ingrown toenail etc

Where would the PS get the staff from? as they don't contribute to their recruitment and training.

Who would pay for the costs of the Theatres and ICU beds/equipment?

Approx 6000 patients are transferred to the NHS each year following private sector complications, around 2500 emergency cases.

Blimey! thats some "off piste" there! 😂😂😂

Those at the coal face see the damage 14 years of the Tories has done to the NHS....

There are out of hours services that aren’t A&E.