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| The state of the NHS; What a disgrace | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Sep 3 2006, 01:34 PM (342 Views) | |
| Deleted User | Sep 3 2006, 01:34 PM Post #1 |
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I had ONE simple question with regards to the effects of a certain medication I am on. NHS Direct cost me £17.43 and refused to help. Camidoc shouted at me and then refused to give me a name as I was going to put in a complaint. On the verge of tears at this point, I decided to call my local hospital who also refused to help. "No, we can't answer anything on the phone, you have to come in." WHat the hell?! And if I was to go in, it's about 6 hours to be seen. No exaggeration. |
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| Beatlesluver | Sep 3 2006, 01:44 PM Post #2 |
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I'm sorry to hear that. I've had quite good experiences as far as emergencies go, but don't get me started on the cost of dentists. When I was teaching in Surrey I got into school, but told by the others to leave before the kids got in as I was clearly ill and needed rest. I went into the Walk In Centre, was dealt with reasonably quickly, given medication and was in bed by about 11am. At uni I once went to my local one, they couldn't deal with me but paid for my taxi to go to Kingston (this was about midnight). It might depend on your local health authority - I don't know. I hope you get sorted. |
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| Deleted User | Sep 3 2006, 01:46 PM Post #3 |
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As for the dentists; after 5 years of waiting for a local NHS one to accept me, they won't ecen LOOK at me til my doctor writes to them to say it's ok as they found out I have heart trouble. 5 years ago my filling came out and because they would not treat me for so long, it happened that my tooth now needs to be removed. My taxes are sooooo well-spent... :angry: :rolleyes: |
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| fab4fan | Sep 3 2006, 01:58 PM Post #4 |
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Interesting stuff. Mind deciphering some of the "initials' for those of us on the wrong side of the pond? Don't want to jump to conclusions but aren't there private dentists to go to? 5 years? Surprised you're not in danger of getting them all pulled and getting fitted for full dentures. |
| Mnisthiti mou Kurie! | |
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| Deleted User | Sep 3 2006, 02:01 PM Post #5 |
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I can't afford to go private. I can't even afford the NHS. |
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| Deleted User | Sep 3 2006, 02:11 PM Post #6 |
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I can tell you that NHS is the National Health Service but I'm still not an authority on this stuff here yet. I do wish the U.S. and the U.K. could put their respective qualities together and get a great health service. (It would make a good thread, actually!)
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| Bill | Sep 3 2006, 02:22 PM Post #7 |
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I think Beep started it a few months ago. |
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| Deleted User | Sep 3 2006, 02:26 PM Post #8 |
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How right you are. http://z3.invisionfree.com/Strawberry_Fiel...owtopic=466&hl= |
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| maccascruff | Sep 3 2006, 08:51 PM Post #9 |
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Sing the Changes
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I have a friend who got ill while in the UK. Went to the Emergency Room and thought he would come out sicker than when he went in because of the lack of general cleanliness and professionalism compared to what we have in the US. Luckily, he survived to tell about it and to hope that he never gets sick again while on a trip there. I've heard horror stories about the health service in Canada, too. |
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| Kit_Kat | Sep 3 2006, 09:19 PM Post #10 |
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Lennon's Mummy xx
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Don't get me started on the damn NHS
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| Deleted User | Sep 4 2006, 08:15 AM Post #11 |
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How are things going on that front? I know what you are talking about, though... |
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| Sandra | Sep 4 2006, 10:04 AM Post #12 |
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NHS 24 is not a drugs information line and the hospital is not the place to go for information about treatment which has already been started so I'm not at all surprised you didn't get the information you were looking for. There should be a drug information leaflet that comes with the medication you have been prescribed. If that doesn't answer your question then make an appointment with your GP and discuss it with them. |
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| Deleted User | Sep 4 2006, 10:12 AM Post #13 |
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The information leaflet was not containing what I need to know, and I went to Boots where the pharmacist gave me NHS Direct number. I basically am on the pill and had severe leg pain and have higher risk than normal of blood clots and was checking something where that was concerned. I did not want to turn up at Hospital and waste their time for no reason. And I could not wait to see the doctor althoug I'll mention this when I go for my monthly checkup this month anyway. I just found their attitude disgusting. |
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| Sandra | Sep 4 2006, 10:36 AM Post #14 |
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Well if you are worried you should get an earlier appointment with your GP. That's the place to get the information you are looking for. |
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| Deleted User | Sep 4 2006, 10:40 AM Post #15 |
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That was the first appointment available; and I booked it a few weeks back. London is bad for things like that. |
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| JeffLynnesBeard | Sep 4 2006, 10:03 PM Post #16 |
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It amazes me that people are so critical of the NHS when a lot of the time they are getting something for nothing. In the US people have to pay for healthcare unless you're literally poverty-stricken. If people in the UK believe that it's such a great system, then, by all means, pay for your healthcare yourself... just means that you'll be paying twice, that's all. What we should all be fighting for is to save the NHS, not condemn and bury it. There are so many commited healthcare professionals working there - the treatment my father received in Oncology when he was treated for and was subsequently dying of bowel cancer was beyond reproach and I'll always be grateful to his consultant (specialist) for his professionalism & compassion. The treatment my then wife received when she had our two daughters was also fantastic, even though the nurses were evidently stressed & over-stretched especially when my youngest was born three years ago. We should be praising & supporting the tireless efforts of our doctors, nurses & midwives... God knows it's a difficult enough job without the public's constant criticism. The sue-you, sue-me culture doesn't help either - one wrong decision and these doctors can find themselves the wrong side of a lawsuit. It's a difficult profession. As for the telephone helpline, NHS Direct is a fantastic service & I have always found their nurses to be kind, patient and efficient. Their advice probably saved my daughter's life once and helped me safeguard my hearing when I burst my eardrum with a Q-Tip. All this for what proves to be a very small proportion of your taxes. I'd say that, although the system is broken & needs fixing, most people are still getting fantastic value for money. |
| ...and in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make. | |
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| Peter | Sep 4 2006, 10:59 PM Post #17 |
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something for nothing and then you say paying your taxes for. the National Health Service is not FREE WE PAY FOR IT. Four years ago a visit for pre op took me including waiting 30 minutes today 3.20 hours. Why i hear you ask well that's what i bloody well want to know to go through a questionaire which is pointless as they ask you and fill out a bigger they weren't ticked luv because they are applicable no i am not f****** pregnant. A simple bloodtest yeah that takes an hour and ecg took just under two minutes and wont show anything unless it's looked at and what to see a junior doctor to go over the same questions that will be asked in the morning. yes folks the NHS is safe in his hands. four and a half years to right a c*ck up hernia. trying suing the b*stards there's two doctors working in surrey or kent who killed a man in southampton, yes they were done for manslaughter and found guilty but not struck off. |
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| JeffLynnesBeard | Sep 5 2006, 01:14 AM Post #18 |
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When I said something for nothing, I'm talking about the times that I've heard people criticising the NHS and they haven't even worked & contributed to the services they take for granted. |
| ...and in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make. | |
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| Bill | Sep 5 2006, 03:39 AM Post #19 |
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The trouble is that people take these problems as an argument against national health care in general. The implimentation may have its problems, but the concept itself is one of the highest duties of any government. |
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| Peter | Sep 5 2006, 03:44 AM Post #20 |
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quite Bill. From the start it has been underfunded and one could make a case that the ordinary person has been fobbed off with a second class Health Service. Now today when some of us having been wanting a discussion on it for over twenty years it goobles up extra money wastefully. Never mind about the cop out of increasing expectations the delivery just isnt there. |
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| Deleted User | Sep 5 2006, 08:52 AM Post #21 |
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I pay 25% tax and Band 2 national insurance. I recognise that the staff are overworked and overstretched and am not blaming everyone or condemning them all; I like my GP, well 2 of them I know...but just was at the end of my tether the other day. I spent over 3 hours trying to get a simple question answered and was treated very badly. |
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| Kit_Kat | Sep 5 2006, 09:04 AM Post #22 |
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My Grandad (the one who has recently passed away) worked and payed his stamp and tax from when he was 13 right up until he was 88 so he payed A LOT of money into the system so when he retired and needed medical help, he would be able to get it but what happened? He went into hospital and NEVER BLOODY CAME OUT!!!! THEY NEGLECTED AND MISTREATED HIM AFTER HE PAYED FOR THAT SERVICE FOR 65 YEARS!!!! IT'S f*cking DISGRACEFUL!!!! |
![]() ![]() This can be summed up in one word - organised crime | |
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| JeffLynnesBeard | Sep 5 2006, 09:15 AM Post #23 |
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I wasn't referring to you, Lauren - I was talking about many people I used to know who went straight from school into parenthood and were the biggest critics of the failings of the NHS. |
| ...and in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make. | |
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| JeffLynnesBeard | Sep 5 2006, 09:18 AM Post #24 |
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I'm sorry about your Grandad, Nat. Unfortunately the elderly don't seem to be a priority in NHS hospitals these days which, considering the amount they have put into the system, really is a disgrace. 88 is a ripe old age for a man, though. |
| ...and in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make. | |
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| Deleted User | Sep 5 2006, 09:54 AM Post #25 |
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Didn't think so, but was covering all bases. My grandmother was an NHS nurse by the way.
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| Kit_Kat | Sep 5 2006, 11:03 AM Post #26 |
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He wasn't 88 when he passed. He was 98. He stopped working (and driving at 88 and did dry stone walling from when he was 65 until 88) and to think he got what he did after he payed so much money into it. I've washed my hands of the NHS and certainly won't be having my baby in any hospital. Rant over |
![]() ![]() This can be summed up in one word - organised crime | |
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| Deleted User | Sep 5 2006, 11:06 AM Post #27 |
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Nat, in that case I really hope it's a straightforward birth with no complications. |
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| Kit_Kat | Sep 5 2006, 11:18 AM Post #28 |
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Yep, me too! By the way everything is looking and going, i'll get the home birth i've always wanted |
![]() ![]() This can be summed up in one word - organised crime | |
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| Sandra | Sep 5 2006, 11:28 AM Post #29 |
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As a nurse who works in the NHS I obviously don't have an unbiased viewpoint. I accept there is much that is wrong with the system and I bear the brunt of the faults on a regular basis. I do believe however it is the fairest way of delivering good quality treatment to everyone which is free at the point of delivery something that I absolutely believe to be a fundamental right for all. I am not in anyway suggesting that individuals within the system don't make mistakes or mis-judgements of course they do. They occur however no matter what system is operating, public or private. A health care system is one which is reliant on human beings so there is no infallible system. Nor do I think that the NHS is or should be above reproach. In my opinion anyone who has a genuine complaint should pursue it to the limit and improve things for others. I have done it myself from the inside and believe me that is tough. However there is a lot of complaining which is based on ill informed and/or unrealistic expectations and that is very demoralising in addition it takes clinical staff away from the clinical area while they write reports or give statements so that it actually has an adverse affect on the care of patients. Are staff more disillusioned and demoralised than they were five years ago? - Yes without doubt and the reason for that isn't entirely about lack of funding and resources. |
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| Peter | Sep 5 2006, 08:22 PM Post #30 |
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I have had over four years of my life wasted on unnecessary pain and on benefits and will be embarking on a quest to know why. The surgeons face at six o'clock when he told showed me he knows i wont rest till I get the shite of a colleague. |
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| Deleted User | Sep 5 2006, 08:51 PM Post #31 |
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I have, of course, heard plenty of horror stories about healthcare here in the UK. I don't know if it is an out-of-date reputation but I do believe that everyone should be entitled to free and/or affordable treatment. If you're uninsured in the U.S. and some kind of ailment befalls you, you will be rushed in and treated with the utmost care and consideration, but once you're fit to leave the hospital you will be bombarded with bills that you will, most likely, be unable to pay (since you didn't think you could afford insurance in the first place)! In fact, hospitals charge uninsured Americans (all 46 million of them) more than the insured ones. And these aren't even what you'd call 'poor' people. It's ludicrous. So, either none of us should be complaining or all of us should. I'm just surprised that these two countries can be so extreme and not come to some sort of compromise. |
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| Peter | Sep 5 2006, 09:06 PM Post #32 |
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Fiona i wouldn't touch the states model with a bargepole and any time anyone has suggested looking into a new Health system the gets on the left scream the United States and have stopped any debate. But one thing i do know is that i want the government to regulate and inspect the Health care system but not run it. Which is why we have had historically low numbers of Doctors and Nurses trained in this country. |
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| JeffLynnesBeard | Sep 10 2006, 02:08 PM Post #33 |
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Trouble is, if private companies run anything, they're going to do it for profit. If the state runs things it's supposed to be supplying a product based on it's cost, but efficiency has traditionally suffered whenever the state runs anything. The railways are a testament to having the state regulating private companies providing a service to the public... it just doesn't work. |
| ...and in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make. | |
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| Peter | Sep 10 2006, 03:58 PM Post #34 |
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Before the nationalisation of the Health Service there were many, and indeed this is were most of the fixed assets of the NHS are still from today, charitable trusts ran hospitals. The government laid down the amount of trainee positions for Doctors, nurses and Dentists per year thereby restricting the numbers of entrants to those professions as any good skilled trade union, a charge that used to be labelled against, did. To me and the vast majority of Britons the United States model is morally unjustifable. But that does stop us from improving our system we can look at France, Germany, Spain indeed the whole of the post industralised west in the quest for a first class system. The NHS was not a Labour concept indeed they were johnny come latelys and were only forced by the public to accept it. That they have got the crudos since then for being the guardians of the NHS is spin of the highest order. But from the start insufficient funds were put into it by Atlee's government why because they were busy paying off their sectional interests rather than working in the national interest. Ummm sounds familar doesn't it. Doctors and Nurses do not work for free but do deserve a decent recompense but the dickheads in charge have squandered billions. They quitely announced another computer project bit the dust on Friday that cost £160 million. |
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| JeffLynnesBeard | Sep 10 2006, 05:31 PM Post #35 |
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You know, as surprising as this may be - I agree with you, Peter.
Charitable Trusts running hospitals is something I would wholeheartedly support - it's a compromise between Private & State ownership, both of which have severe 'side-effects'.
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| ...and in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make. | |
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| Peter | Sep 10 2006, 10:07 PM Post #36 |
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It is debate that should have started in the late 70's when under the Labour government nurses and wards were being laid off and shut down. Advances in medical tecnology is not a new thing and it pisses me off when government soucres claim that is the reason for the increase in spending. Labour when in opposition did not point out that the balance of the population was changing and therefore the demand on the NHS would reflect that, they in fact could have delevoped a real plan for the NHS why didn't they. Well they relied on the unpopularity of the Major government and Cameron is doing the same. Politicians are lazy b*stards when they should be (put up against the wall and shot) coming up with real solutions to todays problems. I see Tony's fixed the middle east problem. |
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I do wish the U.S. and the U.K. could put their respective qualities together and get a great health service. (It would make a good thread, actually!)



My grandmother was an NHS nurse by the way.
2:26 PM Jul 11