Are Britons happy with their health care?

[KayJay]

I also must say that watching all these U.S demonstrations on the news channels here can be cringe worthy. I'm pretty sure I saw protesters waving swastikas in one report. Sometimes it makes me wonder if these people actually know what they are protesting about and what they believe in.

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

Neither have I, but a friend of mine had an accident (industrial) and she had to pay over £11,000 to the NHS and of course she received the care she needed immediately after the accident! but the NHS wouldn't continue treatment and she had to go private and pay out again!

That is misleading...The £11,000 would have been paid by the industrial insurance company. The NHS never stops necessary treatment.
If you are a Non European EEC patient you are charged for your treatment unless the accident happened after you arrive in the UK.

If you have a Car accident the cost of immediate treatment is recovered from your insurance company. As it the treatment of any third parties.

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

I had a hernia done 4 years ago the Hospital could not meet the target of 13 weeks, so they paid for it to be done in a private Hospital. This is now normal for minor operations of that kind.

Last week I had a wisdom tooth removed (free)in the local hospital (I had been referred by my NHS dentist).... it was done on Saturday because they were behind on their two week target. The previous week I had a root filling done on another tooth it cost me £43 (NHS).
My daughter had one done privately and it cost £120.
On average we pay less than half for NHS dentistry.

 

[andrew748]

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/story/1189200.html

Sunshine state lawmakers have received $709,000 in the first six months of this year from health insurance and medical interests, according to a St. Petersburg Times analysis, up $212,000 from the same period in 2008. Of that, $216,000 has come directly from political action committees controlled by Humana and Pfizer and powerful lobbying groups such as the American Health Care Association.

The most money has gone to Rep. Kendrick Meek, D-Miami, who is running for the Senate seat being vacated by Mel Martinez. This year, Meek has received $254,000 from healthcare interests.

Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Sarasota, has received $69,500, up $30,000 from two years ago. Rep. Allen Boyd, D-Brooksville, has taken in $25,000 from PACs, building on the $42,000 he got in the first six months of the 2008 cycle

the current American system is a very profitable system that allows more than the current population of the UK to be un-insured or under insured.
yay! for the land of the free

 

[billyd601]

kay jay, andrew said it was free before he changed his mind! It is a misconception that most people make but on reflection realise nothings for free. I and my wife have unfortunately had a lot of use of the nhs, we have seen the good things and the bad, am sure anyone whos only been to see the doctor or had one or two visits to a hospital hasnt seen the whole picture.
I wouldnt want it to go private but theres lot of waste in the nhs. My son works for them on the maintenance side and hes shocked how much is wasted. I personally have been let down twice, quite badly too, once was a life threatening issue, by the nhs, the second one enough for me to make a formal complaint but it was brushed aside. I do know when things go pear shaped they seem to lose the records too, was told that only this week while at another appointment. 2 weeks ago my wife was sent to see a consultant surgeon to be told she shouldnt have been sent there as its the wrong hospital? Imagine a surgeon and 2 nurses there for the appointment and the costs all for nothing, thats bad management and not only was it a waste of their time but ours also.

 

[woadrage]

6. What is still unclear to me is the "wait time" for certain medical procedures. We need to separate the time spent in the waiting room to be treated vs. the time a patient who needs a procedure may have to wait for his/her "turn" in the operating room.

That is going to depend on where you are in the UK and what the problem is. The country is divided into independent NHS Trusts, that is they manage their affairs independent of government and each other, and they allocate funding according to what they see as priorities and what non-financial resources are available to them.

The only instance I have personally gone outside the NHS was for an ear problem. I had a severe fungal infection in both ears and was told I would need to wait from August (when I saw my GP) until December for an NHS appointment. I opted for a private referral to an ENT surgeon and had two appointments, each of 10 minutes at a total cost of £180 (less than 300 USD). The first one was for treatment and took place within 3 days of seeing my GP, the other 2 weeks later for follow-up.

 

[hunter20ga]

Thanks, everyone, one more time, for all your insights. Hearing from regular people about both the positives and negatives of something as complex as health care beats the heck out of hearing from politicians, lobbyists and others with an agenda.

I started out completely against national health care, but am now leaning in favor of it, providing we can learn from countries that have decades of experience about what works and what doesn't.

 

[Amp34]

I think part of the "problem" we in the UK have with the NHS stems down to not knowing the actual cost of the treatment.

For example we go into hospital with a chest pain say, they will do a consultation, then a nurse will take you to xray, then further consultation, then perhaps an MRI/CAT scan, followed by a consultation. Perhaps then you will be prescribed some drugs or even a 6 hour operation involving upwards of 6 people, drugs and instruments, then more drugs on prescription. All of that is free (other than the £7.20 for the prescription) on the NHS.

If on the other hand you don't have insurance or the NHS it would be something like:

£50-100 for each consultation (more if it was more than 10 minutes probably)
£150 for the xray (that was what was charged to the company I work for when I had a chest xray for a medical).
£10,000+ for the MRI or CAT scan
Probably £100,000 for the operation
£100-1000 for each prescription (and this could be monthly for a year or even the rest of your life).

So for that clogged artery perhaps, you may cost the NHS in the region of £120k+ and that probably doesn't even touch the cost of keeping you in hospital before or after the operation, and is probably on the low side...

I'm guessing even something as simple as a broken arm cost the NHS in the thousands.

(figures are ball park, other than the consultation fees and xray, which I know the cost of)

 

[Splog]

I think part of the "problem" we in the UK have with the NHS stems down to not knowing the actual cost of the treatment.

For example we go into hospital with a chest pain say, they will do a consultation, then a nurse will take you to xray, then further consultation, then perhaps an MRI/CAT scan, followed by a consultation. Perhaps then you will be prescribed some drugs or even a 6 hour operation involving upwards of 6 people, drugs and instruments, then more drugs on prescription. All of that is free (other than the £7.20 for the prescription) on the NHS.

If on the other hand you don't have insurance or the NHS it would be something like:

£50-100 for each consultation (more if it was more than 10 minutes probably)
£150 for the xray (that was what was charged to the company I work for when I had a chest xray for a medical).
£10,000+ for the MRI or CAT scan
Probably £100,000 for the operation
£100-1000 for each prescription (and this could be monthly for a year or even the rest of your life).

So for that clogged artery perhaps, you may cost the NHS in the region of £120k+ and that probably doesn't even touch the cost of keeping you in hospital before or after the operation, and is probably on the low side...

I'm guessing even something as simple as a broken arm cost the NHS in the thousands.

(figures are ball park, other than the consultation fees and xray, which I know the cost of)

Okay, I have a £40,000 car :shrug: cost of insurance £500 pa

I understand your point, but your post shows what is so wrong with the NHS! How can their costs be so high (in real terms) The problem as I see it! is that it is all cost based... i.e. renting hospitals from property developers. wastage in the public sector is never even considered by those employed, stop paying people who are off sick, stop paying people compensation for the most pathetic of claims, stop doctors employed by the NHS doing private practice and start to make everyone employed accountable for their time...

Stop the health tourists, stop the whingers and whiners and get them working, stop those who use the service as a hotel for the night, get rid of 75% of the managers, make the pension schemes private, stop trying to give everything to everyone such as cosmetics, fertility treatment, sex changes etc... etc... etc!

Yes I understand that there will always be exceptions!
Lastly but not least get rid of n.i.c.e as they have totally lost the plot, kick targets out of the window as all that does is motivate corruption and changes the focus from patient care to making individuals and areas look good. Motivate staff and motivate them again, pay them well for doing a god job and get rid of those who don't ....

Rant over.....

 

[Sparkles33]

I'll be frank, I've had many dealings with NHS, far too many for my liking, and for all not all of them are good, I wouldn't be without it.

 

[Steve Smith]

I started out completely against national health care.

Can I ask why?

Obviously, most of us in the UK have known the NHS all of our lives and are used to it just being there when we need it. The US perspective seems different but I don't understand why people would be against it other than for financial reasons.



Steve.