welovetheNHS

gmanxiii · World Chat Champion Joined: 20 Nov 2006 Karma :

Dunno if anyones seen the current hoohah going on about some republicans criticising the NHS and Obamas plans to create a similar system in the states. Made me wonder, although it does have its faults and could be run better im glad that its here. No doubt quite a few of us who may have been involved in a biking accident is glad its about, be interesting to see what peoples views are on healthcare here and how it may possibly be better.
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JAMSXR · World Chat Champion Joined: 18 Jan 2007 Karma :

The thing I don't get is that allot of Americans are pissed off with this idea because they are happy to pay for the good service that they get... But surely if you don't want to be part of the national health service you could go privet instead?

Like the system in this country, if your not happy with the NHS and you have the money you can go with BUPA.

I must be missing something?
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LordShaftesbu... · World Chat Champion Joined: 03 Sep 2008 Karma :

arry · Super Spammer Joined: 03 Jan 2009 Karma :

It makes me laugh how so many people, politicians included, have "run to it's aid" when the usual vibe is that they're slagging it off. Opposition politicians are constantly banging on about how it's broken and in need of fixing but just because some dozy bint in America suggests the same all of a sudden the national pride bit kicks in Rolling Eyes

The NHS would be better if the referral system in from GP's worked better. My missus has had a couple of unrelated minor ailments that have needed specialist treatments but what tends to happen is this:
Go to GP, get referred to hospital for blood tests
Go to hospital for blood test
Go back to GP to get results, nothing found, need to go for MRI
Go back to hospital for MRI
Go back to GP to get results, nothing found
Repeat over and over and over

Huge scope for improvement and efficiency savings IMO

JAMSXR · World Chat Champion Joined: 18 Jan 2007 Karma :

Skudd · Super Spammer Joined: 01 Oct 2006 Karma :

Phoenix · Twisted Firestarter Joined: 01 Aug 2002 Karma :

The NHS would work a lot better if there weren't so many people using it and more than a fraction of the people using it were contributing towards it. The system can work it just needs to be run properly and access to it controlled. Canada's health service is similar but works far better for the obvious reason that they aren't bursting at the seems with immigrants and non tax payers.

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Marcg868 · World Chat Champion Joined: 20 Jan 2005 Karma :

I'm with Bupa now, but this is only because i am now having problems with my left kidney, so need a quick service when i need it. However when i have used the NHS, its been pretty much spot on.

The level of care and facilities are excellent, its just the waiting times. Just a shame its over run by dole dossers, immigrants and drunken numpties.
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bazza · World Chat Champion Joined: 27 Aug 2004 Karma :

Like Guido sez:

Ste · Not Work Safe Joined: 01 Sep 2002 Karma :

NHS isn't perfect and it isn't the fastest. But its still good as it's health care for everyone. If you want better/ faster then that's what private health insurance is for.

Annabella · Like a person, only smaller Joined: 03 Feb 2002 Karma :

As always, I come running to the defence of the NHS.

There so much work being done to reduce waiting times, improve efficiency and the overall quality of care people receive. That includes an awful lot of development work on patient pathways to avoid exactly the type of frustrating (and inefficient) scenarios arry's wife found herself in.

It *is* getting better, but referrals are growing in number (lots), the numbers of people rocking up to A&E are growing and the numbers of very complex (and thus expensive) cases are growing at a huge rate - all of which will need to be dealt with on zero financial growth.

I'm very proud to work for the NHS and be part of something that is as good and equitable as it currently is and even more proud at the rate it is improving to not only treat people more quickly, but more conveniently for them.
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yuri2085 · World Chat Champion Joined: 05 Jul 2008 Karma :

They will of course not get a national health service. But the fuss is being kicked up by the powerful insurance companies / people with a vested interest, these people have a LOT of power in American politics.

If tax is increased to provide government 'health insurance' with of course people with more income paying more to cover the poor, then the rich people could 'top up' their insurance to get the same care + money spent on them as they do already.
Currently the system is incredibly inefficient in the USA because hospitals order useless tests to scam the insurance companies. And of course the companies make huge profits too.
So at the end of the day unless you are super wealthy you would probably be paying the same. And the poor would get treatment resulting in lists of benefits to 'society' as a whole.

WishayKillie · World Chat Champion Joined: 15 Mar 2005 Karma :

Think this sums up America's attitude nicely Very Happy

map · Mr Calendar Joined: 14 Jun 2004 Karma :

yuri2085 · World Chat Champion Joined: 05 Jul 2008 Karma :

'"The thing you must always remember about the American right wing is that they are basically the baddies in a film." '

lol Smile

tykey · Scooby Slapper Joined: 25 May 2009 Karma :

The NHS is great, free healthcare for everyone, be you british or a fucking immigrant scrounger. bet the yanks dont have a free healthcare to the world like we do.

Robby · Dirty Old Man Joined: 16 May 2002 Karma :

You need to remember that the NHS is not free. NI more or less pays for it - so you're paying around 10% of your income for NHS. 10% of my income would pay for some pretty flashy health insurance. As it is, I have an HSA cashback plan to use for some things. The HSA plan is really health insurance for healthy people, it covers enough to pay for enough physio and chiro etc to keep me going for a year if I have a crash or sporting injury.

However, I recently had shoulder surgery on the NHS. The surgery was done within 3 months of seeing my GP for the referral, seeing as there was a cancellation and a surgery slot came up fast. The surgeon did a good job, and it didn't cost me a penny. In fact, I made 40 quid out of it from my HSA plan (one night in hospital = £40).

The Americans have far more obvious lobbying going on, and seeing as the majority of their healthcare is currently private it's a big industry with big money to lobby. They also have a basic free healthcare system in place. You hear the stories about people dieing by the roadside because they had the wrong insurance to pay for their ambulance, but you rarely hear about the people with no insurance who still get treated properly.

They'll institute free (at point of service) healthcare eventually, but I doubt it will be as comprehensive as our NHS for a while. This could be a good thing, as I feel that our NHS pays for many things that should be done privately - any cosmetic surgery for one.

Their current private system is also probably far more competitive than ours. Mr and Mrs Average will probably end up paying the same overall.

tykey · Scooby Slapper Joined: 25 May 2009 Karma :