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.

I think it’s one thing to say that for yourself but the question was about a loved one. I don’t think many people (especially fairly wealthy people such as KS) would let their child die as a point of principle

I don’t think the premise of the question really worked very well. When I actually had a very sick child, they went from a paediatric appointment in the morning to being called into an NHS hospital and admitted that afternoon. No way I’d have messed around trying to find a private option.

So really the question is if your older relative is in chronic pain and needs an operation, would you then go private to jump the queue. But there shouldn’t be queues at all - and you’d hope the politicians would be focusing on that rather than worrying about hypotheticals.

We are just looking at whether we can afford this for DS who needs urgent surgery and risks severe disability the longer he waits. The hospital cannot tell him how long he will have to wait and he is in a lot of pain. Sometimes you just do what you can, especially if it is for your child.

Yes. I had a private operation a couple of weeks ago. Couldn’t get into the NHS via GP. “No appointments”.

KS is either a liar or has led a charmed life with no difficult decisions to make. Or perhaps if you call up and you are a public figure like him, they make space for you even if there are no appointments.

His comment made me view him negatively.

You do what you have to do. His comments suggest he’d let his children languish on the waiting list for a scan if they had a lump or something. Even though he’s a multi millionaire. That makes him a lunatic IMO.

It makes me think he isn’t really in touch with the vast majority of voters versions of real life. But then I don’t think politicians are.

@Changed18

"But there shouldn’t be queues at all - and you’d hope the politicians would be focusing on that rather than worrying about hypotheticals."

I agree that in principle there shouldn't be any queues at all but where a service is free at the point of use then demand will always outstrip supply for a good or service and the only way to manage this is through queuing.

The same thing happened in communist countries and queues form whenever the number of people seeking a product or a service exceeds the number of available products or service providers.

www.qminder.com/blog/queue-management/queues-in-ussr/#:~:text=Naturally%2C%20queues%20form%20whenever%20the,the%20Soviet%2Dstyle%20planned%20economy.

It's not just old folks with long term illness. I used private healthcare for dermatology for DC. It's impossible to get that on the NHS. It's a 4 months wait on private even. But I'm glad we got to see a specialist and her eczema is now under control. Some children requires non urgent specialists too.

I know a few collegues who have use our work private medical insurance for back problems too.

The socialist labour leader stated he would not and had not nor his family "my dan is in the NHS as my wife also works for the NHS." (or very close to these words)
But the socialist labour leader, was not clear at all how the costs would be met to bring down waiting lists and the costings and how quickly this will happen

I guess the press will look to verify the comments

He can’t be that ideologically opposed to private healthcare as he’s planning to use private providers to clear the NHS backlog. The private system only exists because others pay for it.

I struggle to believe anyone who says that they wouldn’t use private healthcare if their child was facing a long wait for healthcare treatment, assuming they can afford the private option.

This.

And people with strong ideological beliefs are more likely to become politicians.

I believe him.

Surely anyone can see through his lie given this policy

So why say no?

Yes of course.

Depends on what, how much and how long. I haven't used it myself but dp paid for better cataract treatment for astigmatism not available on NHS, paid from savings, wasn't that expensive. Generally I am a big believer in the nhs and think wherever possible it should not be queue jumped as it disincentivises people to vote for pro nhs candidates.

I think highly educated people able to advocate for themselves, who know how the NHS works and who can afford to live in areas of the country that are better served by the NHS can afford to be very principled.

If you are a working class person who depends on their physical health for their family income, putting £15k for a knee replacement on an interest free credit card makes better financial sense than the months or years it takes a regular person to progress through the system of appointments and referral that it takes to get one on the NHS.

IMO a blanket "no" is a luxury belief and he'd have been better admitting it was a possibility and lamenting the fact this is a question that people are faced with.

I have nhs dental too

I went private to skip the mandatory NHS steps required before they let you see a surgeon, booking straight in to see the surgeon privately, having scans privately, then being referred back to the same man on the NHS at the private hospital. (I knew what the problem was, as it was a recurrence, not new.) First appt to op was 6 months and 4 days. I cut 12-18 months from my wait, at least.

I now have private healthcare with work and I'm definitely grateful.

Ideologically opposed? The NHS is a massive privilege we have, even despite its current state. It’s not an automatic right…

@AnthuriumCrystallinum

Very true, I've had excellent experiences of the nhs but then I'm able to advocate, can use contacts to get what I need to know and afford to take time off frankly.

Yes and we have. My lottery fantasy is to win the jackpot and set up family private GP/healthcare. It'd not exciting but would give me peace of mind 😌

Also, I find it very hard to believe KS wouldn't use private healthcare if push came to shove.

Yes, I can't see Starmer personally waiting on hold for up to 40 minutes at 8am every morning for up to 4 weeks in the hope of getting a GP appointment. I would be fairly confident saying that he will either not live in an under resourced area, have people to do that for him, or be able to access appointments in ways not open to the rest of us.

I realise I am particularly unlucky with my local GP provision, but I don't think it's that uncommon.

Yes, I can't see Starmer personally waiting on hold for up to 40 minutes at 8am every morning for up to 4 weeks in the hope of getting a GP appointment

I think that’s key to how people answer this question.

Where I live is currently a nightmare to even speak to nurse or GP so round here the answer to the question would be “Yes, I’d go private”.

My SIL’s GP has a system where during working hours you send an online message giving the detail of your problem, ideal times for a call/appointment and you tick a box if it’s urgent or not. If it’s urgent someone gets back to you with an appointment time within 48 hours. If it’s not then within 3 days you get an appointment within the next week.
They also have telephone triage at 8am for anything that’s crucial to be seen that day.
because they do get back to you so quickly only people who really need seen that day call. She recently had a scare that came under the 2ww and she was seen by her GP within 2 days and the referral to the hospital was done and she was seen 10 days later.
Round there less people would say yes as they still seem to have a good system going!

If a child’s life was in danger they’d be treated by the NHS. The private sector is only in the market for easy, non life threatening surgeries. It doesn’t have the facilities for major surgery. No private hospital has an ITU. I’m a hypocrite because I’m completely opposed to private healthcare but, faced with the prospect of going blind, I paid for my cataract surgery.

That’s not true. There is a load of treatment available privately that may not be available at all or available quickly on the NHS. Both in the uk and abroad.