NHS - Useless bunch some of them

[SIRandyraven]

Had a large cyst on neck and got taken in for a local operation and kept in for 4 nights on a antibiotic drip.
NHS ward was good and even the food was ok ...shock horror ...
Got private health insurance , so got paid £200 a night for going NHS.
Appointment to see consultant 6 weeks later ...NHS all went well.
Told to call back in July and make a follow up appointment.
Did and told they would write with date and time.
Got letter saying make an appointment ...so called and they said ...Yes you have an appointment ignore letter....get another letter ...so call them and they say ...oh sorry you have no appointment ...only date available now is August ...eeerrr ..I'm away in August on business ...does he do private ...yes ...
call his secretary ...and asked when would you like to come ...This Wednesday please ...yep ok no problem ...
Seems he so busy doing private , the NHS patients have to wait ....
Two tier system this NHS ...

[Greedyfly]

Mine either. My private care far outweighed my NHS care.

NHS care was good and they work bloody hard and long long hours but private care was incredible. If I could afford it I would stay private.

[Greedyfly]

I must add that I had the same surgeon for both private and NHS care. I am referring to nurses and the hospitals in general.

[Zeuhl]

Fair enough, but in all of the approximately 5 instances of surgical work undergone by people close to me in private hospitals in and around London I can quote actual examples of nursing incompetence.

And a nursing acquaintance has told me of shifts in private hospitals where she was expected to monitor equipment she had not been trained on.

When my daughter was younger the NHS consultant said we should wait and see how her knee condition changed as she got older.

As this seemed like NHS procrastination, we went through BUPA to see a 'Top Man' who told us an op was the only answer and he had 90%+ success.

The op made her knee worse, his success rate turned out to be based on no similar cases and the nursing care in a well known Wimbledon hospital was a disgrace.

My recent exploits in the NHS have been very good.

Hence my cynicism about a medical industry designed first and foremost to make profits and enrich its top employees.
.

[overthetop]

Mixed views on this having used both NHS and private. For abouot 3 years complained to GP about crippling pains in stomach. No satisfactory diagnosis so when I collapsed at work and rushed to NHS hospital, I couldn't tell them I had an ulcer. They were convinced it was gynae, but eventually got there and did repair to perforated ulcer. Continued to have probs, so 1990 or 91 went to private consultant who suggested further pretty major op. Result, since then I have not been able to (sorry for this, but) "throw up". Still didn't cure prob. 1996 my GP FINALLY decided to do blood test for H-Pylori (bacteria in gut, possibly there since childhood). Bingo, course of mixture of antibiotics (Heliclear) and have not had a twinge since. BUT H-pylori was discovered as a possible cause in 1986, so why on earth did I have that other private op in th early 90s which has left me with a condition which I worry about. Just hope to God that I never need the treatment which is known for its nausea inducing side-effects. No medic I ever ask in either sector has an answer and consultant is long since retired. So, good and bad in both I'm afraid.

[karenmac60]

Mr mac has been a regular patient (NHS) since 1979, having suffered renal failure, being on dialysis for years, having 2 kidney transplants and more recently heart problems. He has absolutely nothing but praise for the NHS and there is no way he would have been able to afford private treatment (or insurance) to see him through all those years' treatment - especially as he has been unable to work fulltime for the past 10 years or so.