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Should An Nhs 'In Crisis' Stop Offering Non-Essential Treatment?

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naomi24 | 10:40 Thu 12th Jan 2023 | News
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IVF, non-essential plastic surgery, non-essential gender reassignment procedures, and gastric bands and 'tummy tucks', for example? Additionally, GPs hand out millions of prescriptions for remedies that can be bought over the counter often for far less than the cost of the prescription so would 'getting back to basics' reduce the strain on NHS resources and go some way towards a cure?
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Without question the NHS needs managers and administrators, but do we need so many? Just before Xmas there was a former Trust Chairman being interviewed on the radio, and he stated that a staggering 48% of the NHS payroll is on non-clinical staff. As near as makes no difference (and assuming the staff costs are not dissimilar) that almost one non-clinical...
17:21 Thu 12th Jan 2023
My GP hasn't issued prescriptions for anything available OTC for at least 5 years. Even treatments specific to type 2 diabetes.
naomi, I give you credit for starting a thread which, imo, endeavours to seek out priorities for the NHS to deal with. I doubt that anyone on AB can tell us definitively what is a priority. One man's priority is another man's "pandering". Every case has to be dealt with on its own merits. I agree with Redhelen's post at 11:28.

I have googled, to no avail yet, to find the story of a man who was undergoing gender transitioning many decades ago. His story was televised (more than 1 episode as I recall) and it was a truly amazing insight for me. He worked as a club entertainer by night and ran his own pottery business. The programmes detailed the different types of medical appointments he had. Some of the questioning from his psychiatrist I thought to be quite brutal and left me in no doubt that his opinion of the patient showed no support at all. The affect of these appointments had such an impact on the patient and I have often wondered how he got on. I would never have thought of this example as non-essential, but of course I am sure others would have a different opinion.

To walk a mile in others' shoes, eh?

We have just watched BBC1 lunch time news and I shed a tear for those who have lost their beloved spouses who had no rapid response to 999 calls. Every day we count our blessings how lucky we have been.
that man you are talking of is dead now
Thanks, bednobs. I am not surprised.
damn i worte a long answer that disappeared in casr YMB came back. I agree that non-essential things should not be funded by the NHS, and was once involvedin preparing a response to a judicial review about if the trust i worked for should provide some non-essential surgery to a patient, which cost more in manpower costs than just doing the op would have costs, but we carried on because it was the right thing to do. I am NOT trying to distract the OP about paracetamol, just responding to the accusation that prescribing paracetamol is causing the NHS to be undermined (ok so that's not exactly what was said,i know)
I dont have the answer of how to solve the NHS issues, but that's what i vote for politicians to do, so i dont feel so bad about not knowing
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Bednobs, that’s not even close to what was said.
but in a way it was - the poster was suggesting that if the nhs cant even get a grip on paracetamol prices, they cant get a grip on the larger issues. I was just countering that the paracetamol price used in the example was not true
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Oh, you’re not talking about the OP, bednobs. Okay.
//the poster was suggesting that if the nhs cant even get a grip on paracetamol prices//

So who was the poster, because I sure didnt say that?
nicebloke at 12:26 - i responded to him!
Without question the NHS needs managers and administrators, but do we need so many?

Just before Xmas there was a former Trust Chairman being interviewed on the radio, and he stated that a staggering 48% of the NHS payroll is on non-clinical staff. As near as makes no difference (and assuming the staff costs are not dissimilar) that almost one non-clinical staff member for every clinical staff member. I found that absolutely shocking.

For a start let's get shot of the non-jobs.

For instance, earlier in the year there was a Trust's LBGTQWERTY+ Chief whining about something or other (of course he was) who was probably on at least £100k. The chap interviewed said, in the Trust he previously chaired, there was a role advertised for a "Life Lived Director" on £100k. It turns out this was a role to obtain patient feedback on the Trust's mental health services. These are non-jobs.

People often whine (mainly to make a political point) the NHS is under-funded; this is nonsense - the NHS is more than adequately funded, it's how the funding is used that's the issue. Plus, let's face it, the NHS could be granted the whole of the UK tax-take, and people would still say it's not enough. No sum is ever enough for these people.

Some alternative thinking is needed, such as the suggestions in AH's post, although as somebody who has family private medical insurance, I'd selfishly suggest some sort or tax break is deserved for people like me!

The service should not be there to make fat people thin, give men vaginas and women penises, and to make people pregnant.

It speaks volumes to me that no other civilised country has adopted the NHS model.
Get rid of the chaplains that are paid 30k a year to sit at home doing nothing. And that came from a retired nurse on tv a few weeks back.
I Googled hospital chaplains and staying at home doing nothing wasn't mentioned.
Well they wont own up to that will they? I can only repeat what the retired nurse said. She did say they may pop into the hospital one day a week for an hour or two, just to say hi to everyone, and spend a little time in the coffee shop. I think thats called, just showing your face now and again.
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nicebloke, perhaps that nurse had an axe to grind. Hospital chaplains provide a valuable service to the sick and the bereaved who feel they need such support.
Maybe she would think better of them if she saw them at 2am in a busy ITU working with a large and very faith driven family who were falling apart at the death of a 17 year old overdose victim who would be dead by 4 am, he stayed with them all night, and was still there when I left. He popped back the following evening to check If I was ok, but to be honest I was in better shape than he was.
They had a small team, one admin support , who did things like send follow up letters to bereaved families, organise newsletters, and run the multifaith calender. For a while I offered a bit of 'pagan' support as the increase in paganism in the UK was out of their skill set. I donated a few books, and provided the festival days. They soon got the hang of it.
They should not be doing these anyway...
IVF: No shortage of people, go private
Non Essential Plastic surgery: Cosmetic, again go private
non-essential gender reassignment: How could it be anything other than non-essential?
Obesity stuff: Stop eating.
The NHS should be used for actual medical things that are needed not for attention seeking weirdos.
Are you waiting for an appointment for anything, TTT?

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