Fed up with the NHS

[AliGrylls]

I am wondering if I am the only one who feels that the NHS is bleeding this country dry and is absolutely useless at the job it is supposed to do.

I had, what I thought was, a bad experience on the NHS when I was in hospital being induced in that I had to wait 2 hours for a saline drip during which time I threw up almost constantly and then had to wait a further 2 hours for an epidural when the pain following an amniotomy was excruciating. Eventually I had a c-section that went smoothly.

This however, appears to be nothing in comparison to what some people experience.

Friends have told me much worse. In particular I have heard that in St Georges (local teaching hospital which is the size of heathrow) in Tooting you can expect to wait up to 4 hours for an epidural. Also, one of my friends told me of a girl from her antenatal class who was in labour for 14 hours, who apparently had to give birth in the labour ward because there were no delivery suites available. She was not offered any pain relief - not even gas and air because in the labour ward they don't have the equipment available.

AIBU for thinking the healthcare system in this country is shocking (I guess I am thinking in relation to childbirth but generally as well). If not, please tell me your positive story to help me from going crazy on this subject.

LoobyLu,

I am fully aware it is the same consultants on the NHS and in the private sector. In fact, when I choose who I want to see privately, I always look for someone who is doing cutting edge work in the NHS and whose specialty chimes with what I am looking for.
It is the choice and shorter waiting times which make the private sector better. Also, a typical NHS first appointment lasts about 10 minutes and a private one about 30 minutes. This gives the consultant more time to ask appropriate questions and form an assessment of the problem.

I could not agree more with you that for a serious operation one wants to be in a fully equipped NHS teaching hospital, ideally in a comfortable private room with decent food.

The biggest weakness of the NHS is the gatekeepers to the system and the waiting times. When I, or even more importantly, a member of my family is sick, I want to be seen NOW, not next week or next month. Is that selfish? Maybe. However, over my life I have worked hard and paid a lot of taxes (though not working now, hence having time to post on here). Why is it reasonable to think one has the right to buy an organic free range chicken to improve one's health, yet not urgent healthcare when one is sick? After all, better nutrition leads to longer life expectancy and is thus unfair as everyone cannot afford it (or is not well educated enough to provide it on a very limited budget).

Saying the NHS pays for research and the private sector gets the benefits of that for nothing is also a little disingenuous. It is the system we have. The best world leading research is carried out in the U.S and this is under the private sector. The NHS gets the benefit of this for nothing.

I am not against the NHS per se, as I have said before and I do believe that everyone has a right to healthcare. I am, however, deeply against the culture of the "free" NHS and feel that if we could have a system where healthcare providers felt patients were paying for their services, the service would be better and patients would be treated with more dignity. I have read some wonderful heartwarming stories on here about the NHS but and have met some amazing people who work selflessly within it. On the other hand we know about dirty wards, rude and disrespectful staff (especially to the old) and appalling food. The overall feeling is that the NHS is "free" and we should be grateful for what we get. Until we have a mixed system (like France, say) which takes the best elements of the state and private sector, this will not change.

larryg- I see that you do understand the private h/care system more than I realised from your previous post. I also don't think it selfish to want to be seen straightaway. Life isn't 'fair' and those who have more money can afford a better quality of life.
I do agree that the waiting times are too long. The NHS is fat too over stretched and just can't deal with all the patient! There isn't enough money and a lot of what there is has been v poorly spent (imo). In my opinion, however, gatekeepers (I assume you mean the GPs) are a huge strength. The GPs form a personal relationship with their patients and get to know them well. They know about all of their medical problems (and sometimes social ones too). The GPs are able to safely and efficiently deal with a huge volume of work that would otherwise be seen by hospital specialists. Without GPs, there are huge amounts of over investigation, unecessary panic and expense. I remember by BIL telling me that one of their children had diarrhoea when they lived in The States and they had rung the paed at 3am! Here, this would have been dealt with v safely by the GP, who could have reassured and educated the parents and followed the child up as necessary.
You may well be right that if patients paid the clinicians directly for their services, the service would be better and the patients would be treated with more dignity. There would be lots of reasons for this though. It is far too simplistic to say that medical staff don't treat patients with dignity because they think they are treating them for free. (I know this is not exactly what you are saying). There are so many reasons why the service could be different. The clinicians would have far more time, be far less stressed and be much better paid. All patients (would also treat the clinicians with more respect other wise the clinician would have no obligation to see them. (Most patients in the NHS are a pleasure to treat and extremely polite, it is a small minority who are not).
There are some v unacceptable things that happen in the NHS. I don't think it will be around for much longer (for lots of reasons). I hope that, if it is replaced, it will be replaced by a system where h/care is still available for all, no matter how high or low their income.
I'm also not working at the moment, otherwise wouldn't have time to post either!