[quote MRex]@Eyewhisker - Oddly enough a friend of mine works for a private hospital that she said is still only allowed to do NHS work and has been doing hip/ knee replacements. A few private patients go through if the consultant can call them an emergency, otherwise it's NHS getting the priority. The problem is that there has been a backlog for decades on some services, my relative was sent to a private hospital by NHS for a new knee back in 2008 when they were trying to meet targets and she'd been waiting over a year! The trusts never seem to get past those backlogs, so any brief pause in activity was always going to tip it into crisis mode. Improvement projects with the NHS always seem to lead to broken IT, high management consulting fees and threats of less nurses, as though our poorly paid nurses are what's driving the cost base. The NHS needs repair, but it's a big beast and so far fixes all seem to break other stuff, so I'm fearful of the attempts.
Sorry, not data, just anecdote and ranting.[/quote]
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Yes the problems with trying to change to a better system is that millions of people need to keep using the NHS
it would be like trying to repair a car while belting down the motorway
Most of us acknowledge that we would never build the NHS like this, if we had a clean slate
In Germany, there is a state system, plus a big collection of workplace, non-profit and private schemes
There are obviously richer and poorer areas in the country but there is NOT a postcode lottery - health services and hospitals are of a surprisingly uniform standard
BUT
of course we pay more for this in taxes and insurance - the UK public does not seem willing to do this.
I've lived mostly in Germany since late 1980s and I've always been able to
e.g. get a GP appointment that day if I phone by mid-morning and the next working day if I phone later
e.g. to choose my own specialist without going through the GP - I have a visual disability and googled for a local eye specialist; I scrolled through to find a clinic describing itself as "conservative", so not knife-happy etc
A few years ago, a colleague had cancer.
Diagnosis was v early and treatment immediate, but then he was sent on an all expenses paid 4 weeks recovery to a Swiss alps clinic to "detox" after chemo, with special diet, relaxation and exercise program
That was standard, recommended by his oncologist for all patients and he was on full pay
but of course a Mercedes costs more than a Trabant