The Best Thing About The Uk.

[spathiphyllum]

Is our healthcare system.

Check out this video, yes it's 11 minutes.

[KARL]

I am unsure about the WHO rankings but in looking at access the more recent comparison, if I understand corrrectly took into account the cost to patients, overall cost of care, etc., it is extremely thorough

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-05/tl-tlg052118.php

The country at no.1 in the latter rankings spends almost exactly the same amount of money per capita on healthcare as the UK, in fact very slightly less if I remember correctly from when I looked it up.

[woofgang]

ZM is not free or even "free"

[spathiphyllum]

Even more reason not to let it get any worse!

[Zacs-Master]

woof, that's exactly why I put 'free' in inverted commas. It's a relative term.

[ludwig]

// woof, that's exactly why I put 'free' in inverted commas. It's a relative term. //

It's free at the point of use, which means you don't get thrown back onto the street from A&E bleeding from your stab wound if you can't produce a valid credit card or insurance docs.

[woofgang]

but its not relative.....we pay into it from our earnings

[Zacs-Master]

erm...yeah....exactly.

[Zacs-Master]

see ludwig's explanation, woof. I can't put it better.

On a related but still salient point, If you have one piece of major treatment, the chances are that it far outstrips the contributions made via tax / NI.

[Zacs-Master]

....in your lifetime

[woofgang]

same as my private medical insurance

[Zacs-Master]

Indeed. I hope you never have cause to call on it, especially if it's a major op and an NHS surgeon is diverted from his services.

[ludwig]

// same as my private medical insurance //

Do your premiums change if the state of your health does? Serious question.

[naomi24]

//Do your premiums change if the state of your health does? Serious question. //

Premiums are increased for, say, smokers - and they also increase with age.

The political party that privatises the NHS will be signing its own death warrant. That said, the NHS needs a very serious overhaul especially in the realms of its financial management.

[DTCwordfan]

and I would add IT management - there is no real coordinated knitting from GP to the operating table to post-recovery. My last time in Treliske resulted in having to input data 8 times - and not including my GP records....I can understand two checks but more than that - even in the anaethesist and on the trolley, I had to complete data 'as we aren't joined into the system'......

[KARL]

For someone in the UK working at current income levels for 35 years in their lifetime the NI contributions alone are going to be of the order of £100k upwards. The scenario of being "....thrown back onto the street from A&E bleeding from your stab wound if you can't produce a valid credit card or insurance docs....." is quite unlikely to crop up, even in the USA, in all European countries and the vast majority of the rest (perhaps all, I cannot judge on all) it is not going to happen at all. The fear of that alone does not make acceptable the fact that in an international context the NHS is a mediocre service and that the justifiable suggestion is that it faces an inescapable deterioration in performance.

[Old_Geezer]

Nothing is going to be inescapable. However it's done one needs x budget to cover the same amount of health care. One can choose whether only the rich get decent treatment, or decide that it's a citizen's right and comes out of the communal kitty. But the cost remains the cost. No real reason one system should achieve more than another. Shine in different areas maybe, but a compulsory insurance via taxation vs a voluntary one for the few has no reason to effect service. It all comes down to a sufficient budget and good management. Paying through the nose for agency staff doesn't help, and farming out basic servces to the cheapest bidder to make profit on doesn't ensure standards.