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?

It's not free for many who pay for it with ever increasing taxes.

Maybe a third of women who don't attend have been given appointments at a time that doesn't suit because they are just allocated a random time. The process of rebooking appointments to a suitable time and location is so difficult across the NHS maybe they just don't bother. Not forgetting there are so women who may make a decision that they don't want to take part in screening for whatever reason.

It annoys me that there is an assumption around screening that somehow everyone MUST attend and they MUST comply with NHS process.

In this context I think 67% attendance is actually very high. The framing of it as a third 'failing to attend' is something that doesn't sit well with me. It's saying that women who haven't attended have somehow failed in those linguist terms. This doesn't address inequality and access issues never mind female autonomy.

If a woman doesn't want to attend a screening, then she hasn't failed. She has done what she wanted in line with her rights over consent. If a woman hasn't attended because she can't get to the appointment for whatever reason (and this includes barriers to rebooking for all manner of reasons) she hasn't failed. The system potentially has failed her if it doesn't recognise these barriers.

And yes this does actually matter in terms of how we frame and judge the success or failure of the screening system itself rather than the individual actions of women who may or may not take part in it.

YANBU it is not free, nothing is free. someone, not everyone, is paying for it somehow.

It's to encourage people to take part in the screening. In a lot of countries you would pay for breast screening.

The breast screening unit in my area is a small purpose unit on a business park and perhaps is perceived as being private and incurring a charge therefore the “free”?
Many previously free services are now charged for (earwax removal and hearing aids to name a couple, with NHS dental services diminished).
Agree with the allocation of appointments though but presumably breast screening is contracted out/social enterprise?
Would be far more efficient!

I think it's to encourage people to have them, like we are offering this free service why are you not using it.

Heading aids are not charged for unless you want private ones. I get my aids free from Specsavers, as does my DH.

Anyone whose used FB marketplace knows that charging a small fee results in higher uptake than giving things away free of charge.

We don’t need a higher uptake of the NHS, it’s struggling to cope with its current uptake.

Prevention is better than cure. Early diagnosis can lead to cheaper overall treatment, i.e. if drugs can cure/control something rather than an operation etc. The NHS needs to transform to being proactive rather than reactive. Hopefully they'll be evaluating outcomes from this initiative to see if the use of the word "free" increases take up of scans etc and whether that saves the NHS money in the long term due to earlier diagnosis. Unless we all want the NHS to save money by letting people die earlier than necessary by not giving them scans and treatment so not diagnosing conditions that can be treated/cured at all?

Strange post. Be thankful for healthcare free at the point of delivery
https://www.healthline.com/health/womens-health/3d-mammogram#cost-without-insurance

And you may like to watch the film Nye:

Source: YouTube

That's a 1 min clip

https://www.bupa.co.uk/health/health-assessments/breast-health

£350 if you prefer

That’s absolutely right @Imdunfer but now that hearing assessments are being offered privately many people don’t understand that if your GP refers you to the NHS provider then you will get both hearing aids and batteries foc. Mine were provided by the NHS but a lot of people I know accepted the free hearing test from their optician and have had to fund it.

Thin edge of the wedge?

Yes, that’s my view as well. I’ve never seen it described as free here (Merseyside) but ours are done at an NHS hospital.

I would interpret this as an attempt to make it clear to women who might be worried that there is no charge.

Exactly this

@MixMaxChop i am with you on this too. We are meant to bow and scrape, do what we are told and question nothing.

I get the fear that it is the thin end of the wedge for a private supplier to deliver this service on behalf of the NHS, but I get a sight better service from Specsavers than I ever had from the NHS.

I got a text this morning telling me I'm due a 3 year check free, at which I'll get replacement aids if mine are now out of date.

Under the NHS in the same region my aids were 5 years old without a check before I accidentally found out I had been entitled to new ones at 4 years max.

By the by, in my area you do not need a GP referral. A year ago my DH walked into Specsavers and was tested and given aids on the NHS.

It’s not really a big deal is it and I’m sure your contributions haven’t touched the sides of the costs of your NHS healthcare over the whole of your life so that’s a moot point.

I'm not sure whether you are saying that contributions to the NHS via taxation will never cover the cost of NHS care over an entire lifetime or that contributions will exceed what people take out over a life time.

Without knowing the personal circumstances of every poster, you cannot possibly say.

"My NHS contributions have paid for this many times over"

Cobblers. There is no such thing as 'NHS contributions'.

They have probably started using the word 'free' to try and encourage more people to take up the opportunity, in an attempt to save more lives by finding breast cancer early.

So the appointment isn't conveniently local to you. Either go or don't go - I don't give a shit.

HTH

Idiot… be greatful they are safeguarding your life…

There is absolutely scope to change the appointment.

OP you're being ridiculous. Oh and all those taxes you pay won't touch the sides of what you get out of the system if you develop a chronic disease, have a serious accident requiring ITU, or a heart attack, cancer or a multitude of things that people "get for free".

So what if it's out of the way frankly. It's cheaper to set things up, out of the way. You know, all those taxes you pay....well you want them to be as low as possible don't you....

God help us all, if the expectation is like this, we'll all be relying on BUPA in 10 years and trust me, you won't be happy.

I'm not surprised you didn't get a reply. No doubt your correspondence is still providing lots of hilarity at coffee breaks.

Completely agree. 53% of households are net recipients according to the ONS. So only 47% of us contribute. When you stop working, it's likely you'll be a recipient, even if you are a contributor at the moment.

https://backup.ons.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2023/07/Effects-of-taxes-and-benefits-on-UK-household-income-financial-year-ending-2022.pdf

TheyGrewUp · Today 11:37
I agree with this. My recent invitation for a breast screening contained the same language. I wrote to the sender and politely noted that the screening service was not free but free at the point of delivery having been centrally funded by taxation. I asked if they would reconsider the language used. I didn't get a reply

Goodness, how embarrassing. I'm cringing. You actually thought you'd get a reply, did you? Because you wrote politely. I just don't know where to begin......

You have absolutely no idea about the contributions other posters make.

I have two chronic conditions, one the NHS failed to diagnose and it was diagnosed and treated surgically, privately 30 odd uears ago. The other is osteoporosis, severe, and I have a superb rheumatologist who does no private work. I wish she did because the services around her are grim.

We need a European co-pay system, and quickly. If the NHS continues, I'd quite like every patient to have a personal benefit statement that notes cost of everything provided by the NHS and cost of contributions through taxation.

If the NHS is committed to EDI its people need to stop speakimg to stop speaking to everyone ad though they are super dim.. Equality means adjusting things, including communication, in order to meet the needs of all.