Last night's question on private healthcare.

[1dayatatime]

Cost aside, would you use private healthcare if a loved one were on a long waiting list for surgery.

Yes

Of course..Kier Starmer is a liar

Yes. I would go into debt if necessary.

Yes, private healthcare was the only reason I managed to get a much needed operation after being fobbed off by the nhs for a decade

Of course I would, as would anyone else. Why on earth wouldn't you? Loads of people have private medical insurance - I do through work. Of course I'd go private if I was ill.

Kier Starmer lied last night when he said he wouldn't.

Yes, of course I would.

I feel Kier Starmer was being disingenuous when he said otherwise.

Most waiting lists are for chronic problems rather than urgent lifesaving illnesses for which the NHS is the best choice

None of us should have to is the point. However the NHS has been so badly run into the ground that some people are being left with no other choice than to pay. So many people have to pay to see a private GP ffs! Never mind operations! Never heard about that 14 years ago....

Yes. Starmer is either a liar, or he hasn't need to make that decision before.

I would and have used private healthcare. But unless you have information to the contrary then it is not right to call someone a liar simply because they express a view that you disagree with. Some people have principles and live by those principles. As leader of the Labour Party, Starmer will know that he would be pulled to pieces for making that statement if he has already used private healthcare. And having made it he has effectively closed the door on ever being able to use it in the future.

We tried, but private healthcare won’t touch my DD.

Some people are ideologically opposed to using private care. Keir may well be one of them.

Yes, I would.

But I think it’s very unfair to suggest that KS was lying when he said no. I know a number of people who take that stance - my father included. My brother and I have begged him to get private health insurance and even though he could afford it and we have offered to pay for it if it’s a money issue, he says he doesn’t believe in private healthcare and will not sign up on principle. Such people really do exist and there is no reason to believe KS isn’t one of them.

Yes of course. KS is a liar. I would completely approve if he went privately. It would be one less person on the waiting list and would move someone who can't afford to pay up the list.

If Kier Starmer had a loved one that desperately needed healthcare but was on a long waiting list then he is either lying when he says he won't pay or he is a nob. Either way he is not a man fit for office.

Yes we have it through work anyway

Agree with pp re Starmer and lying

Yes

My MiL is one of the people who just wouldn’t pay for private healthcare in any situation.

We suggested it to her for her cataracts as she was due to have them sorted just at the start of lockdown, but she just wouldn’t.

Yes. I have, for a couple of small things.

I get that he has principles. Principles are good. But life doesn’t adhere to principles. He may already be in a position of privilege that he would be fast tacked anyway in the nhs. (Sorry, but I do believe that happens everywhere in all areas of life it’s ‘who you know’ that gets things down as a well as money.)

But when faced with the prospect of private surgery or death in a waiting list, I think people, including him, will opt for private surgery. Just looking at the go fund me pages tells me this. Principles can be bent under circumstances.

True but personally and I think for the majority of people the hard wired urge to care for your own sick child would override any ideological stance.

I agree. My FIL has a similar view. He can afford it, and has had times where he'd have been better off using it, but he is opposed to its existence so won't give any money to it.

I know a load of insanely wealthy old folk who refuse to use private care. DM had it up to 85, but then could no longer afford it, fair enough. She then hoarded so many unneeded meds issued regularly by her GP, and not used, most of which she could have bought, it really upset me. Drawers of the stuff.

As a pp said, these long list waiters are often on several lists, for multiple chronic issues. DM and her husband had so many appointments, they often used to miss them, or decide they couldn't be bothered, because they were no longer paying, it didn't occur to them that this was unacceptable. There are a lot of old folk like this.

I'm opposed to paying for private healthcare but that doesnt help a loved one if they were in desperate need. So yes id pay, and so would keir if he was being honest.

Many people already pay for private dental treatment because there is no NHS option.