Hospital

[Igottastartthinkingbee]

Anyone watching? A stunning insight into the running of a busy London hospital. Cannot believe the amount of time highly skilled doctors are forced to waste waiting for beds to become available. And the poor man with oesophageal cancer who's operation was cancelled for the second time. Wow. NHS is at breaking point!

At last I understand the bed issue. This programme is brilliant and the Trust are brave to allow the filming.
It is heartbreaking to see the time wasted and the knock on effects.
To me this shows the NHS is an organisation on it's knees.
My son is in his first year studying medicine at Imperial so this is super interesting for me and I'm praying it isn't putting him off!

really that wasn't to you ref insurance btw. Certainly 'we' behaved more humanely than the American system. I wondered what would have happened if she'd had the crisis she had here in the US.

I've worked in the NHS and there were cases when the country's embassy have paid, but it was normally the gulf states.

In the meantime my husband has been waiting over a year for a procedure for his heart

This is the first episode I've watched, it's brilliant, I shall be catching up on iplayer!

Seems pretty 'easy' though, travel here get the surgery then go home. There's a possibility you won't be allowed back to the UK but who cares, you have had the treatment/surgery for nowt. It's great that we don't turn very sick people away but

Dead easy to almost die and need emergency surgery what a breeze

And the Palestinian who came on the lorry obviously had no right to be here. Why just discharge home why not call the home office he didnt appear to have asylum documents did he. Seriously? How would that work? Can you imagine stepping over dying patients who didn't have the right documents? I can't imagine police and border officials would be prepared to arrest and deport dying people. In that context .5 of the budget seems manageable.
The issue imo is the 3 intensive care beds that weren't available for other newborns. I can't honestly say is want to see anyone turned away though.

I've read that the hospital in Chicago wanted evidence that she could pay before any treatment. Because she couldn't provide it, she had to leave the US.

@awishes my daughter is in yr 5 and is incredibly demoralised

Horrifying to think that £450 million a year goes on treating foreign visitors - it's unthinkable not to treat people but equally unthinkable that we are letting people travel here without insurance to cover healthcare. We had to prove we'd got it when we travelled to the US a few years ago and can't see why that isn't in place here when you put figures like that into the equation.

I wasn't suggesting that people were flying here dying of course, but pre- existing conditions etc.

That werent available for other newborns?

Its not a them and us situation when it comes to newborn babies.

They're just babies.

It saddens me very much that we have lost our humanity in this country.

A very thought provoking programme.

It was awful. Not one of them cared or paid more than lip-service to the idea of paying the bill. We should refuse treatment. Priscilla should not have been allowed on a plane without insurance.
£4,000,000 in unpaid overseas patient bills in one hospital. My dad waited 3 years for an operation. By the time they did it he was too weak and died after it. My best friend has severe back pain because of 38 J boobs. Her shoulders have grooves in them that blister because of the pressure of her bra straps. Her gp has written 4 recommendations supporting an NHS breast reduction. The panel turn it down on finance grounds every time but we pay for health tourists.

You'd refuse treatment and let people die?

I have a serious condition.
I have to pay extra for travel insurance.
I pay it or I dont travel.
It is very simple.
No other country in the world would treat me without insurance. The possibility of death focuses the mind and makes me prioritise the insurance.

Just not let them in in the first place without insurance. Not sure what you'd do about the lorry crashers though.

Flying - the Palestinian was treated it was
More the fact he was treated and then just discharged without being followed up by the correct authorities. He had arrived on the back of a lorry.

I spend a lot of time in hospital all around the country with my job and I see the true extent of the NHS crisis.
I have been to a hospital where the staff shortage was so severe that if a patient had to be fed the target was to ensure they had only one meal a day. The food was delivered but binned as staff couldn't feed everyone in time.

When I see and hear things like this it angers me when people wont pay for their treatment or correctly protect themselves in case something happens. If people realised that the NHS isn't a free for all just think about the extra staff that could be employed!
I wouldn't dream of travelling (even to visit my family) without insurance incase something happened to me!
I do understand that these cases were emergencies and didn't intend to need treatment but the NHS isn't free and they should at least to try settle their bills.
Compulsory travel insurance to enter the country sounds like a great idea imo

I guess it boils down to whether you believe austerity is necessary and the issues with NHS are down to foreign users or whether the NHS is underfunded for whatever reason. :)

No one is saying this is the only problem with the NHS, but it certainly is one.

The NHS is dying on its feet wake up people

When it comes down to people saying theyre concerned because Nigerian newborns took beds that our newborns could have i just think something is awry.

But could argue this for days without resolving it. A very thorny issue and interesting programme :)

Obviously underfunding is the major issue but this doesn't mean we can't see health tourists as a problem also?

The people on the programme werent even health tourists. The man himself said very few have come deliberately to the country to seek treatment. It just happens.