News3 mins ago
Should An Nhs 'In Crisis' Stop Offering Non-Essential Treatment?
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?
Answers
Without question the NHS needs managers and administrato rs, 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
I wonder if it's time we stopped regarding the NHS as a sacred cow, and start looking at means-tested payment for services.
The NHS has always been an admirable concept, but it was conceived in a very different time.
It was never envisioned that so many more people would live for so much longer, putting an intolerable strain on the resources avaialble.
That coupled with the endless tiers of highly-paid management, the wilful waste caused by the complete absence of anything approaching accountability, and the increasing reluctance of successive governments to divert sufficient funding into the reality of paying for the service they claim to offer, it's time to stop and have a serious look at what is happening.
Of course, it won't happen, because for any government to confront this notion of stopping free healthcare is political suicide, so we limp on and on, getting less and less for more and more.
There is no end , because the end is something no government will consider, even though it is clearly what is needed to get us out of this mess.
Ditching non-essential procedures would be a start, but radical and urgent re-thinking is needed, and will not be forthcoming.
The NHS has always been an admirable concept, but it was conceived in a very different time.
It was never envisioned that so many more people would live for so much longer, putting an intolerable strain on the resources avaialble.
That coupled with the endless tiers of highly-paid management, the wilful waste caused by the complete absence of anything approaching accountability, and the increasing reluctance of successive governments to divert sufficient funding into the reality of paying for the service they claim to offer, it's time to stop and have a serious look at what is happening.
Of course, it won't happen, because for any government to confront this notion of stopping free healthcare is political suicide, so we limp on and on, getting less and less for more and more.
There is no end , because the end is something no government will consider, even though it is clearly what is needed to get us out of this mess.
Ditching non-essential procedures would be a start, but radical and urgent re-thinking is needed, and will not be forthcoming.
it might be harder to distinguish than first appears... a hernia operation is minor and not typically urgent but can become an emergency if left untreated... gender reassignment typically requires years of waiting and withdrawing it can cause devastating mental health problems that the NHS then has to deal with elsewhere...
tummy tucks and purely cosmetic surgeries are good candidates but there is a high chance they are being postponed for more urgent surgeries anyway... hence waiting lists
tummy tucks and purely cosmetic surgeries are good candidates but there is a high chance they are being postponed for more urgent surgeries anyway... hence waiting lists
The link below provides a list of cosmetic surgeries which the NHS may pay for. I just thought it might be pertinent to a meaningful discussion on this thread:
https:/ /www.nh s.uk/co ndition s/cosme tic-pro cedures /cosmet ic-proc edures- on-the- nhs/
Tummy tucks are not free:
https:/ /www.nh s.uk/co ndition s/cosme tic-pro cedures /tummy- tuck/
https:/
Tummy tucks are not free:
https:/
Indeed it would, TCL.
Here's a little more information on weight loss surgery / gastric bands:
https:/ /www.nh s.uk/co ndition s/weigh t-loss- surgery /
Here's a little more information on weight loss surgery / gastric bands:
https:/
Once we have got rid of the human rights legislation... The right to a family is included and has been used to access Fertility treatment.
Bariatric surgery is proven to be cost effective in feeling term as it can prevent serious morbidity in the obese which can be a lifetime drain on resources. Gastric banding and balloons are the least successful long term so maybe only the more radical measures should be used..
Bariatric surgery is proven to be cost effective in feeling term as it can prevent serious morbidity in the obese which can be a lifetime drain on resources. Gastric banding and balloons are the least successful long term so maybe only the more radical measures should be used..
The procedures for Gender dysphoria (or more accurately Gender Incongruence) are as follows:
• Referral to a specialist Gender Dysphoria Clinic from primary,
secondary or tertiary care or by self-referral
• Assessment for gender dysphoria, and diagnosis
• Individuals who meet the criteria for gender dysphoria related to
gender incongruence are accepted on to the NHS care pathway and
an individualised treatment plan is agreed
• Therapeutic interventions delivered by the specialist Gender
Dysphoria Clinic; and / or referral for interventions led by other
providers, including for surgery
• Ongoing review and monitoring during and after interventions
• Conclusion of contact: discharge to primary care.
https:/ /www.en gland.n hs.uk/w p-conte nt/uplo ads/201 9/07/NH S-Engla nd-Serv ice-Spe cificat ion-for -Specia lised-G ender-D ysphori a-Servi ces-Sur gical-v 4.pdf
• Referral to a specialist Gender Dysphoria Clinic from primary,
secondary or tertiary care or by self-referral
• Assessment for gender dysphoria, and diagnosis
• Individuals who meet the criteria for gender dysphoria related to
gender incongruence are accepted on to the NHS care pathway and
an individualised treatment plan is agreed
• Therapeutic interventions delivered by the specialist Gender
Dysphoria Clinic; and / or referral for interventions led by other
providers, including for surgery
• Ongoing review and monitoring during and after interventions
• Conclusion of contact: discharge to primary care.
https:/
There is a fine line between some cosmetic and treatment surgery. A good example of this is breast reduction. In the worst cases without surgery the women concerned would suffer a lifetime of back pain, which would mean lost work time, plus treatment for the pain, it becomes cost effective very quickly.
At the same time there are expensive cancer drugs that are known to offer short term life extension of a few months, certainly less than a year. The cost can be tens of thousands. Hate to be the administrator doin g the cost/ benefit/ calculations on that.
At the same time there are expensive cancer drugs that are known to offer short term life extension of a few months, certainly less than a year. The cost can be tens of thousands. Hate to be the administrator doin g the cost/ benefit/ calculations on that.
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