to think its disgusting the people with money can get to the front of the nhs treatment que, treated in a nhs hospial by a nhs doctor

[freespiritfreedom]

i mean wtf is going wromg with this country ?

dh needs to see a consultant, its a 12 week wait nhs or if you pay, to see the same dr they can get you in, in a few weeks

its fucked up

far better this system than the USA healthcare system where people bankrupt themselves to get treatment that we would get via NHS

I am glad there is private health care available a very dear friend of mine had bacterial Menigitas and most likely would of been dead if he had gone through the NHS he was in Hospital for 5 months in isolation as the menigitas broke down his immune system there is no way an NHS hospital would of been able to accomadate his needs over them months.

they still earn alot.

they do not need to be so greedy

That's not how it works, DrN (see further down the thread).

People paying to see a doctor privately are relieving the NHS of having to pay for them, hence freeing up money for other patients who are less well off.

Are you really a Dr, Northerner?

Do doctors not have to pay to use NHS facilities when they are doing work for private patients then?

They have to pay to use private facilities when they are doing work in private hospitals. In fact 65% of the fee I am paying for an op is going to the hospital and not the surgeon or the anaestheasiest (sp?) so I presume it would be the same in an NHS hospital and it means they actually make money in this way.

pingping why be glad for private in that case? why no wish the nhs was better improved ?

They have worked their balls off - they are not greedy - they have high risk jobs which have meant they have trained for years.

what about the flipside?

DD has an appointment, arranged through the NHS and at NO COST to me, to see a private dermatologist. The NHS are paying for people to see private HCPs in order to get their waiting lists down to meet various targets that the govt has imposed. I know a few people who have had various procedures done on this basis.

Should I refuse to go on principal and wait another three months or get my DDs condition assessed as qwuickly as possible so we can start appropriate treatment?

If the doctors were not doing private work in the Uk they would all be in other countries earning lots of money for private work. I don't understand why you feel it is so unfair of these consultants to earn their full potential. I'm grateful most of them have enough of a social conscience to work for the NHS too and not go completely private.

if this is more about what doctors earn, i would take more of an issue with some city jobs, that is hardly saving lives, yet 6 figure salaries and bonuses ( well, maybe not so much now) are the norm.

Because at the end of the day Millions of pounds gets injected into the NHS every year and its got slow improvements. Everyone wishes the NHS was better improved but reality is its not.

I am glad because my friend could of died because the lack of care through the NHS and the lack of time Nurses and DR's have to spend on a patients. Least with private care you get what you pay for.
Don't forget the rich people that do go private still pay for our NHS system and still contribute they in turn are worse off as they have to pay private medical costs as well.

No, if doctors were not private doctors there wouldn't be more NHS doctors. The NHS pays for however many doctors it thinks it needs and can afford. One doctor deciding not to work privately doesn't automatically then get a job created for him in the NHS instead.

You sound very bitter freespirit. Yes there are flaws in the NHS, and yes it's frustrating having to wait, but having access to free healthcare at all is pretty amazing, and it's not exactly unusual to get an easier/quicker ride at some things in life if you are lucky enough to be able to pay for it.

Do you think we should all get paid the same, regardless of what we do? Do you think we should be allocated a house?

i fucking despair of human nature sometimes really.

the greedy fuckers, hope they sleep well at night.

Who is a 'greedy fucker'?

It is a nuisance but at least we have the NHS which we should be grateful for.
Totally agree with Lulumama ref the system in the states (and other countries) Friends of ours moved to America and the husband was in a very bad motorbike accident and lost his leg. He nearly died and needed to be airlifted to hospital where they refused to treat him until his wife attended with their credit card.
My family and I are currently living abroad temporarily for work and I'm pregnant and we've taken the decision to have baby here. Every time I go for a check up it is around £50 to £75 (to basically get weighed, pee in a pot and have my blood pressure taken) and in total, we know that the whole pregnancy and delivery will be around £3,000. Yes, no doubt people will say that we should come home and have treatment but just trying to illustrate how lucky we are to have the NHS, even if the waiting lists are a little longer than we would like. I hope your husband gets the treatment he needs in due course though OP.

i think the waiting does frustrate most people, but the care you do get free, is second to none.

Freespiritfreedom I can why its frustrating to you but thats the way the world goes round seriously regardless if private health care was available or not the NHS would still be the same. SHIT!

Be grateful for small mercys. I would hate to be poor in the USA and have a child that needs urgent medical attention or need an organ because you have to pay thousands for shit like that, Least over here we have more of a chance of getting the medical treatment we need.

Well I think the NHS is generally crap and a shambles but I'm missing your argument tbh.

If there are long waiting lists it is because the NHS institution is not employing enough doctors/staff (and never covers maternity leave etc). It's nothing to do with individual doctors having private patients as well.

Agreed lulabella - I hate NHS bashing threads.

There is no doubt that the NHS could be improved but, having come from a place where there is no national healthcare, I am constantly ASTOUNDED by the excellent care available here for free. I think people in the UK can be thoroughly spoilt about this which really winds me up.

My dad needed a scan (can't remember whether it was an MRI or CT). He had a consultant (NHS) appointment booked for after his scan, but then the scan wait was so long that the consultant appointment came first. He asked the consultant whether he should pay for the scan and the consultant said if he could afford it yes, because he couldn't treat until my dad had had the scan. He explained it was a separate list and did not effect NHS wating time and it would help him because it would mean one less scan needed. So he booked and paid for the scan privately so the NHS consultant could get on and do his job. Otherwise there would have been another pointless consultation with the surgeon where he couldn't actually do anything because the scan still hadn't been carried out. Not so much queue jumping as forcing anyone who can afford it (and my parents aren't rich) to pay for some aspect of their NHS treatment. Again no greedy doctors, just not enough contracted hours for the scanner.

Just to get flamed....when a lot younger, ds had an eyesight check. They thought there was something wrong, and oput me on an NHS list. I wss told it would be 6-18 months before he could be seen. Unacceptable, as his eye would have deteriorated in that time.

I paid, saw the consultant in the private hospital who was the same Doc he would have seen on the NHS, and he was diagnosed with a lazy eye and a vertical squint, and treatment begun. He was seen at an NHS clinic thereafter. I phoned the clinic to be taken off the consultant's NHS list and got told off for going private. I couldn't have given a damn. If I wasn't on the list, someone else moved up faster, and I got treatment for my ds started sooner, and avoided any deterioration.

If you are going to get annoyed at the NHS, could you do it on dentistry please, as I paid for that as well, as there were no NHS dentists where I lived in the UK.

Just to get flamed....when a lot younger, ds had an eyesight check. They thought there was something wrong, and oput me on an NHS list. I wss told it would be 6-18 months before he could be seen. Unacceptable, as his eye would have deteriorated in that time.

I paid, saw the consultant in the private hospital who was the same Doc he would have seen on the NHS, and he was diagnosed with a lazy eye and a vertical squint, and treatment begun. He was seen at an NHS clinic thereafter. I phoned the clinic to be taken off the consultant's NHS list and got told off for going private. I couldn't have given a damn. If I wasn't on the list, someone else moved up faster, and I got treatment for my ds started sooner, and avoided any deterioration.

If you are going to get annoyed at the NHS, could you do it on dentistry please, as I paid for that as well, as there were no NHS dentists where I lived in the UK.

sorry didn't mean to post twice.