4 ms·

Context: in the UK, healthcare is nationalised and seeing the doctor is free; for a prescription you pay only a small, fixed charge (and even that's free if you

Context: in the UK, healthcare is nationalised and seeing the doctor is free; for a prescription you pay only a small, fixed charge (and even that's free if you're under 16, over 60 or disabled). So if your child has a cough and you get some Calpol from a pharmacist, you pay the regular price, if you can convince your GP (or pharmacist, where supported under the "minor ailments scheme") to prescribe you the same thing, you get it for free. This is one reason why every winter the National Health Service runs campaigns telling people "do you really need to see your doctor?" and poor people in particular go "yes we do". I don't blame them. (Google "UK Calpol for free" if you want to read up more on this.)

arethuza 8y ago
I always feel the need to include the explanation of "Free at the point of delivery" - we all know we pay for it in our taxes. (This is to pre-empt any TANSTAAFL comments). Also here in Scotland prescriptions are free as well.
- MartinCron 8y ago
  Are you this pedantic about the non-marginal costs of all government services? This public school is free at the point of delivery or calling the police is free at the point of delivery ?
  - arethuza 8y ago
    The "free at the point of delivery" part is precisely how NHS services are described: https://www.nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/about-the-nhs/principles-and-values/ https://www.nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/about-the-nhs/principles-an... If you don't make that qualification people will often accuse you of being a crazy socialist that doesn't appreciate where they money is actually coming from. NB As an aside, a "public school" in the UK isn't what you think it is :-) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_school_(United_Kingdom) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_school_(United_Kingdom)
    - MartinCron 8y ago
      Doh! I had a nagging suspicion about the public school thing. Now I have outed myself as an ignorant American.
vkou 8y ago
> This is one reason why every winter the National Health Service runs campaigns telling people "do you really need to see your doctor?" and poor people in particular go "yes we do". The other reason (At least in the US and Canada) for why poor/'poor' people go and see their doctor when they have a cold, is because their boss expects a doctor's note for a sick-with-the-cold day. Such campaigns are as much targeted at the patient, as it is at their employers. Doctors don't want to deal with non-serious seasonal infections, and they don't want patients seeking a doctor's note to get their other patients sick.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- freedomben 8y ago
  yes, thank you. Fortunately I no longer work for employers like that, but as an entry-level low-level employee, you are automatically looked at with suspicion by most employers. If you need a sick day, you have to get a doctor's note, which is an outrageous waste of everybody's resources.
- red_admiral 8y ago
  Been there, done that. Phoned up work to tell them I was on the first day of a bad cold and needed a day off. They say no problem but you MUST get a doctor's note. So I phone the GP and they tell me they can see me in 2 weeks' time, I go along as ordered - the cold's completely better by then of course - and ask for a note to say that I had a cold 2 weeks ago, which I duly get and hand in to my employer. Everyone's happy, free at the point of service etc.
  - iguy 8y ago
    I hope you made a point of asking for two hours off that day, to sit in the waiting room for a note to make HR happy.
  - DanBC 8y ago
    Your GP was allowed to charge you for that letter, and if you were inside the self-certification time your employer must pay the charge.
DanBC 8y ago
The Minor Ailments Scheme does not provide free calpol for all, and you don't need to see your GP to access it. https://www.nhs.uk/news/medical-practice/minor-ailment-scheme-doesnt-provide-free-calpol-for-all/ https://www.nhs.uk/news/medical-practice/minor-ailment-schem... The reason the NHS keeps pushing the "are you in the right place" message is because they cannot provide the services peple need in the places people go to (eg, providing GPs in A&E departments), and people get better care if they go to the right place.
- chrisseaton 8y ago
  > because they cannot provide the services peple need in the places people go to (eg, providing GPs in A&E departments), and people get better care if they go to the right place. Why doesn't the NHS provide services in the places that people want and expect them, instead of the places that suits the NHS? They're thinking backwards. If you have a lot of people going to A&E who really need the services of a GP, then guess what? Put a GP in the same place as the A&E.
  - jdietrich 8y ago
    We have a chronic shortage of GPs. Most people who visit A&E with a minor ailment do so because they can't get an appointment with their GP within a reasonable timeframe - they'd rather sit in a waiting room for four hours than wait two weeks for a GP appointment. Putting GPs in A&E is just robbing Peter to pay Paul; we need to fix the GP shortage, but that is a complex issue that will need time and money to resolve. https://www.economist.com/britain/2018/01/04/the-nhss-latest-problem-a-shortage-of-gps https://www.economist.com/britain/2018/01/04/the-nhss-latest...
  - DanBC 8y ago
    I ahree that GPs should be put in A&E departments. People think the NHS is one big monolithic organisation, but it isn't. We have NHS England who don't provide any services, but who commission some specialist services. Then we have 195 Clinical Commissioning Groups. These are regional organisations who again don't provide any services, but who comission services from other provider organisations. We have a bunch of trusts - mental health trusts, acute trusts, community care trusts (and combinations of these), and then we have a bunch of GPs. In same places you'll have a 24 hour GP walk in centre close to A&E, with plenty of signage telling people of the wait times. (Swindon Hospital does this). In some places you'll have out of hours GPs located at A&E, but weirdly to access these you have to go via a phone line call to 111. So, yes, it's something I find frustrating.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

arethuza 8y ago

I always feel the need to include the explanation of "Free at the point of delivery" - we all know we pay for it in our taxes. (This is to pre-empt any TANSTAAFL comments). Also here in Scotland prescriptions are free as well.

MartinCron 8y ago
Are you this pedantic about the non-marginal costs of all government services? This public school is free at the point of delivery or calling the police is free at the point of delivery ?
- arethuza 8y ago
  The "free at the point of delivery" part is precisely how NHS services are described: https://www.nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/about-the-nhs/principles-and-values/ https://www.nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/about-the-nhs/principles-an... If you don't make that qualification people will often accuse you of being a crazy socialist that doesn't appreciate where they money is actually coming from. NB As an aside, a "public school" in the UK isn't what you think it is :-) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_school_(United_Kingdom) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_school_(United_Kingdom)
  - MartinCron 8y ago
    Doh! I had a nagging suspicion about the public school thing. Now I have outed myself as an ignorant American.

vkou 8y ago

> This is one reason why every winter the National Health Service runs campaigns telling people "do you really need to see your doctor?" and poor people in particular go "yes we do". The other reason (At least in the US and Canada) for why poor/'poor' people go and see their doctor when they have a cold, is because their boss expects a doctor's note for a sick-with-the-cold day. Such campaigns are as much targeted at the patient, as it is at their employers. Doctors don't want to deal with non-serious seasonal infections, and they don't want patients seeking a doctor's note to get their other patients sick.

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
freedomben 8y ago
yes, thank you. Fortunately I no longer work for employers like that, but as an entry-level low-level employee, you are automatically looked at with suspicion by most employers. If you need a sick day, you have to get a doctor's note, which is an outrageous waste of everybody's resources.
red_admiral 8y ago
Been there, done that. Phoned up work to tell them I was on the first day of a bad cold and needed a day off. They say no problem but you MUST get a doctor's note. So I phone the GP and they tell me they can see me in 2 weeks' time, I go along as ordered - the cold's completely better by then of course - and ask for a note to say that I had a cold 2 weeks ago, which I duly get and hand in to my employer. Everyone's happy, free at the point of service etc.
- iguy 8y ago
  I hope you made a point of asking for two hours off that day, to sit in the waiting room for a note to make HR happy.
- DanBC 8y ago
  Your GP was allowed to charge you for that letter, and if you were inside the self-certification time your employer must pay the charge.

DanBC 8y ago

The Minor Ailments Scheme does not provide free calpol for all, and you don't need to see your GP to access it. https://www.nhs.uk/news/medical-practice/minor-ailment-scheme-doesnt-provide-free-calpol-for-all/ https://www.nhs.uk/news/medical-practice/minor-ailment-schem... The reason the NHS keeps pushing the "are you in the right place" message is because they cannot provide the services peple need in the places people go to (eg, providing GPs in A&E departments), and people get better care if they go to the right place.

chrisseaton 8y ago
> because they cannot provide the services peple need in the places people go to (eg, providing GPs in A&E departments), and people get better care if they go to the right place. Why doesn't the NHS provide services in the places that people want and expect them, instead of the places that suits the NHS? They're thinking backwards. If you have a lot of people going to A&E who really need the services of a GP, then guess what? Put a GP in the same place as the A&E.
- jdietrich 8y ago
  We have a chronic shortage of GPs. Most people who visit A&E with a minor ailment do so because they can't get an appointment with their GP within a reasonable timeframe - they'd rather sit in a waiting room for four hours than wait two weeks for a GP appointment. Putting GPs in A&E is just robbing Peter to pay Paul; we need to fix the GP shortage, but that is a complex issue that will need time and money to resolve. https://www.economist.com/britain/2018/01/04/the-nhss-latest-problem-a-shortage-of-gps https://www.economist.com/britain/2018/01/04/the-nhss-latest...
- DanBC 8y ago
  I ahree that GPs should be put in A&E departments. People think the NHS is one big monolithic organisation, but it isn't. We have NHS England who don't provide any services, but who commission some specialist services. Then we have 195 Clinical Commissioning Groups. These are regional organisations who again don't provide any services, but who comission services from other provider organisations. We have a bunch of trusts - mental health trusts, acute trusts, community care trusts (and combinations of these), and then we have a bunch of GPs. In same places you'll have a 24 hour GP walk in centre close to A&E, with plenty of signage telling people of the wait times. (Swindon Hospital does this). In some places you'll have out of hours GPs located at A&E, but weirdly to access these you have to go via a phone line call to 111. So, yes, it's something I find frustrating.

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]