BBC news saying Scotland discussed possibility of wealthy being expected to pay for nhs treatment

[Ruizy]

Feeling a bit horrified at the prospect of this proposal. Surely it would just mean those above a certain wage would have to take out bupa style insurance. But not sure what would happen to emergency care.

Very sorry to hear this, exactly what happened to my mum, i don't know if it cost more or not but whilst equipment was sourced very quickly, the care package wasn't, there was a 6 week delay and no company even bid for it.... such is the stupidity of the NHS.. or rather Govt policy, why the fuck are people bidding for care contracts????

There simply isn't the number of carers in the UK, my DD did care work whilst at Uni.... half the women doing it were from the EU, they went back home and haven't returned... the agency she was with handed back all non urgent care packages... why would they? expensive visa's (not that they can even get them) and extortionate health care insurance.

We voted for this, so shouldn't really complain.

Income tax is comparatively high atm and how does higher VAT work when businesses are crying out for support due to energy costs - won’t it impact demand even more?

But what are you thinking which income gets taxed more and how high for VAT?

walking I grew up on a council estate, as did all my family. Sorry I should have been clearer, I was referring to 70s and 80s and it was very common where I grew up (deprived area) to look after family at home as best you could. I can only speak about my own family and the people I knew, that was just my experience. Lots of elderly were looked after at home. Of course I was very young and so I’m sure lots of it was rose tinted!

@Namechangedforthisonetoday Most families now have both parents working and people can not retire till late sixties.

@MarshaBradyo Tax is high to pay for the corruption of our government. So much money defrauded by businesses and the government did nothing.

If health care isn't paid for via Tax how else should it be paid, via insurance which is a private company out to make profit?

And actually the insurance just becomes a tax of a different sorts a tax that you need to pay.

2 tier same as America.

The worry thing with insurance that's tied to employment, what happens when someone is paid off?

Or someone has an accident in the weekend between leaving one job and starting another?

How many hours do people need to work to be offered Health Insurance?

The issue is one is voluntary and the proposal would be mandatory

I don’t mind hearing suggestions but when people say underfunded I wonder what the funding increase is and who is taking the burden

Wherever it comes from someone’s paying and it’s getting harder to see how it pans out given demographics but also general health

So she expects the wealthy to fund it and then not get to use it?

Utterly ridiculous.

My cousin lives in Scotland & says that the health system there is worse than in England.

Scotland is a big place. We are getting better healthcare than in England.

Why do we always have to be looking for another country to emulate when we already have a system that should be the envy of the world?

Because it doesn't work in the modern world. Why should it be the envy of the world? No other country in the world followed our system, nor wants to change to one similar. Therefore surely, we should look towards other systems which DO work.

Who is the 'she' of which you speak? Have you read the story?

Agree the issue really is social care and the bed blocking as a result of there being insufficient care staff to care for people at home.

And Ireland and Australia.
And France has a certain level of healthcare paid by Gov and then people have a "Mutuelle" which is a top up to fund more than basics.

All a million miles away from the American system

Don't we have some of the worst cancer outcomes in the g7 at the very least due to late detection? Something needs to change.

my improvements would be: a public information campaign about A&E - ie it is not for minor ailments or a cold. I had to attend a&e recently for a bad dog bite. I was seen within 20 minutes when the board said the wait was 7 hours. The person behind me at reception said they were there because their nose was blocked and they hadn’t slept. The nurse practitioner I saw said that 90% of people were there with coughs/colds and that morning someone who had had one bout of diarrhoea. If I had diarrhoea I wouldn’t be able to leave the house, let alone spend hours in a&e.

The elderly: bring back cottage hospitals. Also the Hippocratic oath must be revisited - modern medicine has rendered this in many, many cases cruel and, ironically, inhumane.

I agree about paying if you are “wealthy” - £45k with a mortgage and dcs - yeah, loaded. Health insurance is all very well but you have to pay tax on the benefit through work so it is very expensive and if you dare to claim you are stuffed. As usual mugs in the middle are punished

Yes I know that antelope, I was referring to years ago and reasons why the NHS in its current form don’t work. Social change, care at home and lack of community are part of the reason.

I can't imagine many would want to hang around I'm A&E for hours for a cold, you don't know their history though, they may have asthma or have other issues that means a cold isn't just a cold.

It's hard getting it right though - your meant to be tired and breathless at 8mths pregnant - right? I couldn't be assed to drive to the GP i was exhausted but thats normal - right?

My mum ended up calling my GP out, she in turn sent me to hospital diagnosis with pumonia hospital for a week.

I'd be dead if it was left to me BTW pumonia isn't sort at all!

Sore not sort - stupid auto correct

Fair enough.

fwiw right now, the majority of people i know with elderly parents, are assisting & caring for them at home, with social care support packages.
Only going into a CH when dementia takes hold.

The NHS is, over time under funded compared to eu comparable countries, i don't know why people try and deny this, austerity did happen!!

• lack of SC workers, means people are left in hospital, this again can be solved with extra funding, we still have a relative low tax burden in the UK.

But there has to be the political will, which we haven't got.

Thats not true, many countries follow similar to NHS in Europe.

www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/news-item/why-has-the-nhs-not-been-copied-spoiler-it-has

These countries spend more per capita & over many decades.

But also better preventative healthcare & selective charging i.e GP appointments, makes people appreciate what they ve got.

There is definitely an issue of carers not being paid properly. Quite disgusting that they are minimum wage roles.

People arent going to stay in minimum wage jobs if they will be more highly valued by the supermarkets.