4 ms·

If you're in the UK, please go private if you can afford it. You cannot rely on the NHS.

hermitcrab 4y ago
This helps the individual, but doesn't do much to help the NHS. The NHS is one of the best things about the UK and we need to fight for it. Making big corporation and the super wealthy pay taxes would be a good start.
- robin_reala 4y ago
  It helps the NHS in as much as it reduces load on them. Though what percentage of people would have to do that to have an appreciable benefit is another matter, and it doesn’t do anything about A&E.
  - was_a_dev 4y ago
    The overlap of people who can go private, and use the NHS is very slim. It really would have an miniscule effect. All complications from private healthcare spill into the NHS. There's no such thing, yet, as private A&E for example.
  - hermitcrab 4y ago
    But the more people go private the more excuse it gives the government to privatise the NHS ("it isn't working, look how many people are going private"). Also many of the private doctors are also NHS consultants. Getting more private work might just mean they reduce the hours they do for the NHS. So it isn't clear to me that going private helps the NHS, possibly the opposite. Also, if you pay your taxes, you shouldn't have to go private. It seems to me the main factors here are: a) Healthcare is getting more expensive due to an ageing population and ever more elaborate and expensive treatments. b) The greed of the wealthy (who would rather have a third card than pay taxes to fund the NHS). Who also control much of the UK media. c) The incompetence and venality of the UK government. How many hospitals could have been built by the money paid out in fraudulent COVID loans or trousered by mates of the government for COVID PPE? d) The lack of long-term thinking and investment. We seem to change ministers like most people change theri underwear. It is beyond shameful that the NHS is hovering up doctors and nurses trained in developing countries to make up the shortfall.
- bowsamic 4y ago
  Healthcare is a life or death situation. I'm not going to abandon my own health because I think that if I don't do so I might hurt the NHS
  - hermitcrab 4y ago
    I completely understand. Overall it would be best for everyone if we had a really well run and funded NHS. But it is better for the individual (who can afford it) to pay and skip the queue. It is basically 'the tragedy of the commons'.
- usedtoprog 4y ago
  You've got to be kidding
n4r9 4y ago
The NHS is still functioning. I am still able to get GP appointments within two weeks, be prescribed medication, etc... . Your suggestion, if widely adopted, risks splitting the country into a two-tier system and hastening the demise of the NHS. Much better to vote in a party that will start to fund it properly and undo some of the privatisation and mismanagement that has been damaging it for years.
- benjaminwootton 4y ago
  Ours cannot offer a telephone appointment for 3-4 weeks. That is not acceptable for pretty much any situation require healthcare. The NHS has a record budget of £200 billion for 2022. Serious questions: How much extra money do they need to provide an adequate health service, and how would another party fund the gap considering our current economic situation?
  - pedro2 4y ago
    Via Twitter, recheck accuracy: > So. All those dodgy VIP purchases the Tories made in 2020/2021. They were added as a spend on the NHS budget, to make it look like they were spending more money on our National Health Service https://twitter.com/davidjboughton/status/1598426168390197338 https://twitter.com/davidjboughton/status/159842616839019733...
    - tailspin2019 4y ago
      Nice so a bunch of that NHS cash is sitting in some offshore account owned by that “Lord” (Lady?) who just took a leave of absence…
  - robga 4y ago
    "Ours cannot offer a telephone appointment for 3-4 weeks". This is labelled an anecdote. My anecdote is that I can always get an in-person appointment on-the-day at my London NHS GP, and I live not in a particularly affluent location. It doesn't take much time to find raw, trusted statistics in about the same time as it took to type this message. The source I found [0} explains that: 38.9% of appointments in October 2022 took place on the same day that they were booked, 46% <= 1 day, 66% <= 1 week, 80% <= 2 weeks, 89% <= 3 weeks, 99.91% <= 4 weeks. And 73% of appointments were face to face. There is always more to the data, sure. e.g. I just made an appointment for my GP about an annual asthma check, and I asked for it to be late next week. If your GP can not offer a telephone appointment for 3-4 weeks, then it is clearly a national outlier. Throwing your anecdote into a heated debate does little to manage the temperature. I recommend referencing primary source information to support your assertions. [0] https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/appointments-in-general-practice/october-2022 https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/sta...
colinb 4y ago
Is it still the case that if you're in a private hospital for anything bigger than an ingrown toenail, and something goes wrong, then they'll shove you in an ambulance and take you to the nearest NHS teaching hospital, because: - that's where all the big kit is - that's where all the top experts are - that's where the nurses and procedures are in place for critical care ? Because that was the case 10 years ago. BUPA is great for seeing a doctor quickly with a non life threatening condition. And the biscuits [cookies] were nicer. My knowledge of the NHS is almost a decade out of date though.
- tailspin2019 4y ago
  Yes I think this is still the case, however the emphasis is on “if something goes wrong”. I don’t know how often something does go wrong to trigger this scenario though!

This helps the individual, but doesn't do much to help the NHS. The NHS is one of the best things about the UK and we need to fight for it. Making big corporation and the super wealthy pay taxes would be a good start.

robin_reala 4y ago
It helps the NHS in as much as it reduces load on them. Though what percentage of people would have to do that to have an appreciable benefit is another matter, and it doesn’t do anything about A&E.
- was_a_dev 4y ago
  The overlap of people who can go private, and use the NHS is very slim. It really would have an miniscule effect. All complications from private healthcare spill into the NHS. There's no such thing, yet, as private A&E for example.
- hermitcrab 4y ago
  But the more people go private the more excuse it gives the government to privatise the NHS ("it isn't working, look how many people are going private"). Also many of the private doctors are also NHS consultants. Getting more private work might just mean they reduce the hours they do for the NHS. So it isn't clear to me that going private helps the NHS, possibly the opposite. Also, if you pay your taxes, you shouldn't have to go private. It seems to me the main factors here are: a) Healthcare is getting more expensive due to an ageing population and ever more elaborate and expensive treatments. b) The greed of the wealthy (who would rather have a third card than pay taxes to fund the NHS). Who also control much of the UK media. c) The incompetence and venality of the UK government. How many hospitals could have been built by the money paid out in fraudulent COVID loans or trousered by mates of the government for COVID PPE? d) The lack of long-term thinking and investment. We seem to change ministers like most people change theri underwear. It is beyond shameful that the NHS is hovering up doctors and nurses trained in developing countries to make up the shortfall.
bowsamic 4y ago
Healthcare is a life or death situation. I'm not going to abandon my own health because I think that if I don't do so I might hurt the NHS
- hermitcrab 4y ago
  I completely understand. Overall it would be best for everyone if we had a really well run and funded NHS. But it is better for the individual (who can afford it) to pay and skip the queue. It is basically 'the tragedy of the commons'.
usedtoprog 4y ago
You've got to be kidding

n4r9 4y ago

The NHS is still functioning. I am still able to get GP appointments within two weeks, be prescribed medication, etc... . Your suggestion, if widely adopted, risks splitting the country into a two-tier system and hastening the demise of the NHS. Much better to vote in a party that will start to fund it properly and undo some of the privatisation and mismanagement that has been damaging it for years.

benjaminwootton 4y ago
Ours cannot offer a telephone appointment for 3-4 weeks. That is not acceptable for pretty much any situation require healthcare. The NHS has a record budget of £200 billion for 2022. Serious questions: How much extra money do they need to provide an adequate health service, and how would another party fund the gap considering our current economic situation?
- pedro2 4y ago
  Via Twitter, recheck accuracy: > So. All those dodgy VIP purchases the Tories made in 2020/2021. They were added as a spend on the NHS budget, to make it look like they were spending more money on our National Health Service https://twitter.com/davidjboughton/status/1598426168390197338 https://twitter.com/davidjboughton/status/159842616839019733...
  - tailspin2019 4y ago
    Nice so a bunch of that NHS cash is sitting in some offshore account owned by that “Lord” (Lady?) who just took a leave of absence…
- robga 4y ago
  "Ours cannot offer a telephone appointment for 3-4 weeks". This is labelled an anecdote. My anecdote is that I can always get an in-person appointment on-the-day at my London NHS GP, and I live not in a particularly affluent location. It doesn't take much time to find raw, trusted statistics in about the same time as it took to type this message. The source I found [0} explains that: 38.9% of appointments in October 2022 took place on the same day that they were booked, 46% <= 1 day, 66% <= 1 week, 80% <= 2 weeks, 89% <= 3 weeks, 99.91% <= 4 weeks. And 73% of appointments were face to face. There is always more to the data, sure. e.g. I just made an appointment for my GP about an annual asthma check, and I asked for it to be late next week. If your GP can not offer a telephone appointment for 3-4 weeks, then it is clearly a national outlier. Throwing your anecdote into a heated debate does little to manage the temperature. I recommend referencing primary source information to support your assertions. [0] https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/appointments-in-general-practice/october-2022 https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/sta...

colinb 4y ago

Is it still the case that if you're in a private hospital for anything bigger than an ingrown toenail, and something goes wrong, then they'll shove you in an ambulance and take you to the nearest NHS teaching hospital, because: - that's where all the big kit is - that's where all the top experts are - that's where the nurses and procedures are in place for critical care ? Because that was the case 10 years ago. BUPA is great for seeing a doctor quickly with a non life threatening condition. And the biscuits [cookies] were nicer. My knowledge of the NHS is almost a decade out of date though.

tailspin2019 4y ago
Yes I think this is still the case, however the emphasis is on “if something goes wrong”. I don’t know how often something does go wrong to trigger this scenario though!