NHS now saying stuff is free.

[MixMaxChop]

Dear Mrs Chop

Welcome to NHS breast screening. We would like to invite you for your free mammograms. We have made you an appointment in a hospital that is not local to you in the arse end of a city that does not have any access from the railway station and parking is strictly limited and none of your previous mammograms have ever been in this city before but that’s not the point.

Free??

A) it isn’t free. My NHS contributions have paid for this many times over.

B) Surely “free” is the whole point of the NHS

C) are they craftily prepping us to have to start paying for services now in a stealth move to privatise the NHS?

The NHS routinely check that you will attend an appointment, because not doing so costs money and a timely cancellation can offer an appointment to another patient. I have the NHS app and in many areas the NHS are offering patient portal services. Both offer the facility to receive hospital appointments directly and enable online confirmation.

It isn’t genuflecting acceptance. It’s never having had any reason to complain. There’s a difference. And European health services generally attract much more by way of spending than our NHS, as well as some services attracting payment upfront. If that were applied to mammograms and other life saving screening it would create a two tier system and those who couldn’t afford it would be in trouble.

Not in my experience. I have multiple, significant health conditions, including congenital disability and latterly breast cancer. I haven’t experienced a significant wait for treatment for any of them, including surgeries. Not saying the waiting lists aren’t significant in some areas but I don’t think a sweeping generalisation that the health service is crap, as you seem to be suggesting, is appropriate for all.

This has been my experience too. Even during the pandemic, I received a timely diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis and commenced treatment within a few weeks. A lot of the consultations were by phone or video call, but in general it was fine. I’ll probably get flamed for this but I do think some folk just like to complain.

One of the NHS future priorities is analogue to digital so hopefully better digital systems will be put in so that delayed letters will be a thing of the past. It does require population using the NHS (who are more elderly, disabled and digitally excluded than Mumsnet users) to be able to navigate such online systems and apps which many can’t yet do.
Is there not an option to opt out of paper letters if you prefer the app or email? Our Trust is going to email default and you can only have a paper letter if you specify it now. Saves a lot of trees.

I would hope that’s the case - the arrogance is unbelievable. As I said upthread, I think the language used in these letters tries to keep it simple and understandable for all levels of understanding. The use of the word ‘free’ may be the difference between someone attending the service or binning the letter thinking they have to pay.

Obviously we all pay towards the NHS

We don’t.

There are millions who use it without making a contribution.

This is what our trust are doing now. I already had the NHS app and the introduction of Patient Portal in our area now means you can opt out of paper letters and have appointment notifications sent directly to the app. There is also a facility to confirm or decline attendance and cancel/request another appointment, which I’ve used very successfully on a few occasions.

My experience has been different.

And who are these millions ?

I kind of guessed that, and I’m sorry that’s your experience. But it doesn’t condemn the rest of the health service as not fit for purpose. I think the problem here is that services at the routine end of the service tend to attract longer waiting times because more people used them and the conditions covered are not serious so are prioritised differently. Consequently, and understandably patients feel hard done by because they have to wait. That’s not the case in my experience of being diagnosed with several serious conditions as a result of congenital disability, and a cancer diagnosis. These are prioritised differently and generally addressed much more quickly. Not everything can be prioritised.

Don't be a numpty, many people in UK are originally from places where Health Care is not publicly funded. Stating the obvious that NHS Mammograms are free removes any doubt and avoids any misunderstanding as not all NHS services are 100% free e.g dentistry.

Deary me.... Did you get up this morning looking for something to get annoyed about? 🙄

Yep, this too.

It’s a complete non issue. I’m still having trouble believing a poster upthread actually wrote back to the service provider to dispute the use of the word ‘free’. And was surprised not to hear anything back. The arrrogance is mind blowing.

The amount of tax payers money wasted on researching and replying to stupid enquiries like this, FOI's fishing for the latest click bait scandal Daily Mail style and complaints that are national policy or legislation outwith NHS control is staggering.

Of course im grateful that medical science has come so far that cancer and other life threatening illnesses can he detected. The point im making is that the NHS itself has deteriorated so much over the years but we are expected to be grateful for a sub standard service. I've been in the unfortunate position of having family members having to use the nhs over the last couple of years, the majority of whom have faced a lot of incompetence.

I want everyone to be able to access the NHS regardless of their income. That is the point. Peoples' contribution to society is not just via their tax contribution. We all deserve treatment and care.
I think low waged people and people who cant work (maybe because they are disabled or have lost their job) should be able to access the same care as those on higher incomes. I have always believed this.
I dont want a system where due to cost barriers people cant access or are reluctant to access screening, diagnosis or treatment.

I was also non plussed about that. Imagine having nothing better to do with your time than that?

This is the future. This is what we need to make happen so that there is less waste. We need really good fit for purpose IT systems and information sharing.

I agree. I think this is where things need to change. There are different systems within the NHS that don’t speak to each other. It needs streamlining so the standard is the same everywhere.

But every time joining the IT systems up is suggested, people are bleating about how they're worried about data security, despite the fact that they willingly pass their data on to social media companies. Try using on-line booking systems and it's all my 90 year old granny won't be able to do it, which may be the case, but there's no reason why most people under 75 can't, other than they don't want to.

Yep. Agree. And yet joining up all the data and sharing it seamlessly across all NHS services wouldn’t involve holding any more information than they do now on separate systems. I’m nearly seventy and have no problem with using NHS online and the various other apps. I appreciate that some people may very well struggle but as long as there is an easy alternative provided for them, I think this is the way forward.

Exactly this

I just had my routine mammogram today, and nowhere on the letter does it say it is free, other than (at the bottom of p1)
"NHS treatment is not free to everyone - you may have to pay if you do not live in the UK on a lawful and settled basis"
(At the bottom of p2) "The NHS offers breast screening to save lives from breast cancer to women who are permanent residents in the UK. If you are not a permanent resident you may be charged for this service." (Punctuation, or lack of, is as typed, not mine)

There were posters saying the same in both the main waiting room and the just-before-test waiting room. (Our health authority excels at Disneyesque queue systems)

So not every health authority is working from the fluffy, "free" playbook.