Whats the point of the NHS?

bulb66 said:
[..]
Yeah in your view it wasn't worth writing a post, but the fact the i had to wait 30min then get given the 3rd prescription in as many days. I agree that we only pay a small amount for drugs but it annoyed me that i have to provide my own dressing, it's like asking people who work in offices to bring their own paper for the printer.
Click to expand...

No, it isn't. It's like asking people who use a printer at a shop to bring their own paper. Which is odd, but not like asking people to provide materials for their employer's use.

Is it some sort of special dressing? If it's just an ordinary sterile dressing, why not just buy one from any old shop for <£1?

You've had massively subsidised drugs and free medical treatment and you're questioning the entire point of the NHS...of course people are arguing with you. Your post is foolish.
 
Spook187 said:
Well i just checked my NI stamp to date for this tax year and i have paid £2.852.61, so i actually kinda agree with the OP, if they asked me to chip in for dressings i would have said your having a laugh aren't you.
Click to expand...

And yet if you find yourself in need of having a major operation, it will be free and probably cost the NHS 10-15+ years worth of your contributions.
 
a word of warning. some things are better if you buy without prescriptions.

NHS buyers are ridiculously bad at budgeting, they have no idea what market costs for things are and will just sign the cheques to private contractors for whatever they ask for "as long as it is within their budgeted amount".

Things like dressings you could probably buy cheaper over the tcoutner than pay £8 for.

I rememebr once when I had to get pharacetamol for my late father, the pilative care nurse told me to just buy it from sainsburys for a few quid than get a prescription. It would be free because my dad was a pensioner but it was just the principle of it. NHS probably pays an arm and a leg just for pharacetamol and I would have to queue ages to get it on prescription.
 
Clarkson said:
I recently had a tumour removed from my spinal cord. Operation by a consultant neurosurgeon, paracetemol/codeine/liquid morphine whilst in hospital, almost a week's supply of paracetomol/codeine upon discharge, not to mention the care of nurses etc, and I didn't have to pay a penny. (other than my NI :p).

Also getting physiotherapy on top of that.

I think its a great thing and we are lucky to have it. But not every single thing can be free its just not possible.
Click to expand...

Similar here. Cancer two years ago which was mostly treated privately but I'm under observation on the NHS now at the Marsden. It's a fantastic service and while not perfect it's far, far better than what's available in most countries. I now get free prescriptions due to needing medication for life but if I didn't I wouldn't moan after seeing what I've seen while being treated.
 
Superb service as far as I'm concerned, been pleased with all of my dealings with them, and the treatment my father received was excellent. I'm lucky enough to live in another country which has an excellent national healthcare system now, considering I'm taxed around 5%, but I'd hate to be in a place where I had to worry about the cost of visiting a doctor. It's around £2 a visit for me here, with hugely subsidised meds too - just the amount of paperwork and stamping is a bit of a pain :p My last general health checkup cost me £16, but involved queuing 5 times in 5 different departments. Still, you get used to that.
 
Go live in Scotland. Free prescriptions.

Well, who knows how that'll work out if they bail on the UK but for the moment they get freebies on the NHS.

Actually works out as ridiculous for many generic drugs like paracetamol because instead of getting them for 20p at the supermarket the govt is billed several quid through the prescription. But still free for the patient.



As for my experiences... had a free significant cosmetic/quality of life surgery (estimated at about 30k) as well as treatment for chronic stuff all my life on the NHS, I pay for prescriptions and typically need many items over a year but if I use prepaid certs the cost is absolutely negligible.

For example I pay £104 and in a whole year I could have thousands of items (exaggeration) but I'd pay nothing more. GP visits are free ofc, specialist referrals free, hospital for anything, free.

Of course we pay more through our income but it's not so much I feel squeezed by it and I know I'm not going to get stomped on with a huge bill if something ghastly happened.
 
Last edited:
Phantom Shadow said:
If I had paid to have a TT privately, I would have expected follow up care as part of the cost? no?
Click to expand...

Depends what you paid for when you arranged the private operation.

If it wasn't included in the cost, going private for what turned out to be a GP visit and £24 of prescriptions... would be more than £24.
 
Don't pay for prescriptions in Northern Ireland either. In saying that I've never minded paying for prescriptions when we did pay as I suffer a bit from asthma and there's maybe been one or two times that if I didn't have an inhaler then I would have been in a bad way. I've spent money on worse so genuinely don't mind paying for something that can give me a much better life.
 
Well every visit I've made to my local hospital or any other NHS departments. I've not had to pay a single penny.
My prescriptions where free for the last 4 years. I've only started to pay for prescription this year. And i only make 1/2 visit a year to GP
 
franco_22 said:
You think £8 for antibiotics/medication isn't free.... ? You have never lived outside of the UK have you ?
Click to expand...

Most medications are generic and cost about £1 to buy privately, e.g. paracetamol. Only the new patented medications are expensive and the NHS makes a significant profit on prescription charges because of this.
 
It's odd we only hear people bleat, about paying £8 for paracetemol because they can buy it for a £1. Strange no one praises the £8 charge when their medication cost £150+ a throw. (or much more)

My own pharmacist is really good, should it be cheaper over the counter that's what he advises me to buy.

I'm quite highly medicated due to the problems with my ticker, if I had to pay the full £8 for every item it would be over £90 a month. While I don't get them free I just use the Prepay and that brings the cost down to just over £100 a year. Which is a bargain in my view.

Of course nothing from the NHS is free, we all pay for it via out taxes, and it is expensive and parts of it are not as well run as they should be. Those that are fit and well generally consider it to be a drain on the country that needs culling. However those that have actually need of it are generally thankful that it does what it does 365/24/7.

If your child is hit by a car you pick up the phone dial 999 and help comes. You'd never have to think about cost.
 
Free treatment for my Crohns Disease to the tune of thousands a month. Allows me to be healthy enough to get on with life virtually normally.
 
DampDog said:
It's odd we only hear people bleat, about paying £8 for paracetemol because they can buy it for a £1. Strange no one praises the £8 charge when their medication cost £150+ a throw. (or much more)
Click to expand...

This is quite true, I remember having to buy a seretide inhaler in France when mine ran out, without a prescription they cost £140! I rattle through one every couple of months, coupled with all sorts of other pills and potions I'm pretty confident without the NHS prescription service I'd have to pay many thousands of pounds a year just to stay alive/normal :)
 
DB_SamX said:
Free treatment for my Crohns Disease to the tune of thousands a month. Allows me to be healthy enough to get on with life virtually normally.
Click to expand...

Have to say I'm finding it difficult to be impartial when I know for a fact I'd be dead twice over had I not received the care I needed. I've have had angiograms, angioplasty, bypass, countless scans and test, rehab sessions. I am, and always will be in their debt. Up to now they given me 15 years that I wouldn't have had.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom