Nhs

[saif]

If there is one thing that is almost guaranteed to piss me off, it is people (usually foreign) complaining about the *concept* of the NHS. This is one of the few things that I am proud of being in the UK (I know they have it, or similar in other countries) and the effect it has on the UK is, imho, overwhelmingly positive. There will be issues with a system of such size and of course they have to prioritse but that IS the best way. One of my colleagues from China (where health spending per person in rural areas is apparently (C4 prog) <?10 per year) was telling me how **** the NHS was because her friend had to wait 4 hours at A&E.
Me "That's really bad, did he die?"
Her "No"
Me "well that is not too bad then is it?"
Her "four hours though"
Me "what was the accident, or emergency?"
Her "he closed his hand in the door"
[/conversation end]

The reason for this, well the NHS is taking something of a pasting from elements in the US due to the desired reform for their great system of letting people carry on without going to hospital...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/deadlineusa/2009/aug/11/nhs-criticism-obama-healthcare

Yes, that is Tory MEP running down the NHS. Would an MP dare to do that to their constituents??


I know most Britons are quite proud of the NHS - just want people to know what some people in the states think of our "pinko commie" system.

[charlesr]

Seems pretty essential to me.

[Orgun]

Seems pretty essential to me.

Yeah, I can't even imagine how horrible it would be to have a system like in the US. I had to go into hospital after being beaten over the head with a baseball bat and it was fast quick and painless (well...except for the blood and pain ). No ridiculous insurance bills or filling out loads of forms.

[J0e Musashi]

Do the NHS treat man-flu yet? There's only so much laying on my bed sobbing like a little girl because my sinuses hurt that I can take.

[importaku]

I work for the NHS & the amount of beaurocracy that they are forced into is unreal. They are bound up by so much red tape it's getting to the point where it's hindering the service.

Im glad we have it even if it can be a bit **** sometimes.

[huxley]

The NHS as over worked as it is, is a fantastic thing. Healthcare for all.
Funny thing a few years ago one of my friends came over from the states, sliced his hand with a bread knife - he was all set to sew the wound himself as he didnt have any holiday cover, short trip to A&E sorted.

[Orgun]

sew the wound himself

O_O Bloody hell, just imagining that is making me cringe.

[funkydan]

The NHS as over worked as it is, is a fantastic thing. Healthcare for all.
Funny thing a few years ago one of my friends came over from the states, sliced his hand with a bread knife - he was all set to sew the wound himself as he didnt have any holiday cover, short trip to A&E sorted.

Is this your mate?

[Brats]

The concept of the NHS is fantastic. It's suffering from a bit of a crisis at the moment with staff morale really low, loads of wastage and an unresolved battle between the Doctors and the other staff, but it is something to be very proud of.

Anyone seen Michael Moore's Sicko? If ever there's a doubter over the NHS, show them this.

[EJG1980]

I think the NHS is one of the best things about this country. I think it's a mark of a good society that has everyone chip in to try and make sure that nobody has to go without help when they're ill. You're putting human dignity above money / profit which to me is the noble and proper thing to do.

I do have personal experience in that my brother has muscular dystrophy, my sister was born with a lot of complications and before she died my Mum also had muscular dystrophy and various other complications. I shudder to imagine how we would have dealt with all that without the NHS, having to cope with bills, insurance, etc., on top of the worry of family members being ill!

So maybe that means I'm massively biased in favour of the NHS, but to me not having an NHS style system would seem backwards and uncivilised.

Anyone seen Michael Moore's Sicko? If ever there's a doubter over the NHS, show them this.

Saw it when I was in the states visiting a mate over there. During the part about the NHS she just looked at me and said "Bah, you're just going to look smugger and smugger during this part!"

[buster_broon]

why would you go on holiday and not take insurance - seems pretty idiotic to me

anyway the last time i was in A&E was with the wife when she developed tennis elbow and by all accounts very painful indeed

we got to A&E at around 10pm on a Saturday night and she eventually got a steroid injection at 6am, so for 8hours my wife had to sit there in complete agony whilst the staff were inundated with arseholes who couldn't hold their booze

there was just as many policemen in and around the area taking idiots in and out of the hospital

NHS is good but when it comes to self-infliction (booze and eating) we should just toe the party line and tell them where to go, if its alcoholism then thats different but a random guy to go and fall over when he is drunk or involved in a drunken brawl - he/she should have to pay for the doctors time

[abigsmurf]

I'm proud of the NHS but it's been mismanaged. A huge amount of money has been poured into it but the improvements have been slight. Middle management has acted as a sponge for the extra cash and the bureaucracy has made things a lot less inefficient.

This may or may not really be the case but I get the impression that you have nurses in their station who are restricted from doing certain tasks. General cleaning has to be done by a specialist team, results for a test carried out can be read out by a general doctor on a general walk around, you have to wait for the specialist with 20 other patients to get around to reading the print-off to you saying there's nothing wrong and you can go home.

The beauty of the NHS is not having to worry if your HMO covers your disease or being worried and in extreme pain because of fear of a medical bankrupcy. That if you get cancer and have it treated that your health insurance goes up from $250 a month to $500 a month.

[PrayforMojo]

Off topic: Good to see that Fox News is still a bastion of fair and balanced journalism. And people criticise the BBC for having a political agenda. Lol.

On topic: I hadn't set foot in a hospital for over ten years until recently, and I couldn't get over how much they've changed in that time. They're almost like mini-cities now, completely self-contained, with a variety of shops and cafes. Pretty cool, I thought. But then I got into a heated debate with a work colleague about how commercialisation has slowly creeped into the NHS, and how I don't think it's an entirely good thing. He was saying it would be the first place he would haul his ass to in the event of a zombie apocalypse, whereas I thought it was a crazy idea. I mean, they're full of seriously ill people, ticking time bombs waiting to go off. No, I said, I will be holding out in a Tesco Superstore where it would be much safer, but then I remembered plans for stores like Boots to bring clinics into the high street and how even some supermarkets were considering the idea, maybe even my local Tesco Superstore. Why hasn't this serious issue made it onto the front pages of every newspaper? When the **** hits the fan nowhere will be safe. And why do all the main political parties sing from the same hymn sheet, and actually welcome things like market forces being brought into the NHS. When did the discussion take place, coz I must have missed it, and do we have any say?

Is it just me, because I'm fed up with being told that competition is a good thing, when the evidence I've seen with my own eyes rarely supports it. Buses. Crap. Trains. Crap. Royal Mail. Crap. I find the idea of bringing the market place into the NHS so sickening that I think I need to make an appointment to see my GP asap.

[fishbowlhead]

Its a wonderful thing not having to worry about how your going to be able to afford to keep yourself healthy in-case something does happen. Im all for the NHS, its fantastic (well apart from all the money that should be going towards equipment, nurses & doctors, vanishing into management and execs pockets that is)

And as someone else said, its nice that the whole country chips in to help each other for once. If only more services were like it.

[buster_broon]

And as someone else said, its nice that the whole country chips in to help each other for once. If only more services were like it.

i dont thing everyone chips in, moreso only the people who like to work chip in for everyone else