We should be more like the US, where you don't have to pay for other people's treatment and medical costs are kept low by competition and efficiency in the private sector.
NHS=Negligent Health Service
- Thread starter 1664kronenbourg
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We should be more like the US, where you don't have to pay for other people's treatment and medical costs are kept low by competition and efficiency in the private sector.
we do, it's called the vet
Vet bill is climbing
About 2 years ago, our cat went to the vet with a blocked bladder. I think it cost about £500 (wasn't insured). We then insured him as the shock of a vet bill scared us a bit. None of the following will be covered as they will class it as a pre-existing condition :( Present day, it's happend...
forums.overclockers.co.uk
Man of Honour
About a year ago 8 of us in the Legal Team moved across the road and the removal firm charged around £30,000 for just moving desks and PCs etc.
I setup the PCs and didn't get our IT involved.
Multiply that by the dozens of departments who move every year and the removal firm is earning a fortune.
Commissario
Yup
And in the US "Good" health insurance might cost $20k for a family, with another $5k in co-pays etc assuming you go to the Doctor that's "in network", and any accidents are treated at an "in network" hospital where you were taken by an "in network" ambulance and all the staff are "in network".
I've seen people who've ended up in hospital supposedly "in network" getting charged tens of thousands because one or more of the doctors wasn't "in network" but was working there, let alone if you are ill out of state and haven't thought to plan your emergency out so that the ambulance takes you to the right "partner" hospital whilst you're unconscious.
For what we spend on the NHS compared to the US systems it's absolutely amazing.
IIRC it's been suggested more than once by various studies that the US medical industry spends more on billing and billing disputes per person than we do on the NHS per person.
Yup people don't seem to grasp that one of the reasons vet bills seem so high is because we're not used to seeing the cost of medical procedures.we do, it's called the vet
Vet bill is climbing
About 2 years ago, our cat went to the vet with a blocked bladder. I think it cost about £500 (wasn't insured). We then insured him as the shock of a vet bill scared us a bit. None of the following will be covered as they will class it as a pre-existing condition :( Present day, it's happend...
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My mums in Hospital with a broken hip.
She told them shes vegan.
Her first meal was Beef in gravy with vegetables and a full fat yoghurt...
So she just skipped the meal...
Bet there wouldn't be a mix up if it were pronouns or something important like that.
She told them shes vegan.
Her first meal was Beef in gravy with vegetables and a full fat yoghurt...
So she just skipped the meal...
Bet there wouldn't be a mix up if it were pronouns or something important like that.
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Man of Honour
Just remember that the people who do the meals are not even Banded and they should come round asking what you want from a menu so you don't get the wrong thing.
Well they do at our hospital.
Commissario
Also depending on when you're booked in the meals might already have been prepared and delivered, and the patient's preference/requirement may not have made it down to the people who are delivering.
It's the unfortunate, inevitable resuilt of most of the catering seemingly being outsourced and very little capacity (or time) for nursing staff/assistants to deal with changes like that that these days.
In the last few years my dad has ended up in hospital multiple times unfortunately, and every time the first meal seems to have been either something random based on what was left on the trolley, or the meal selected by the previous patient as IIRC a little form is sent round once per day and meals ordered in/made up based on that with some extras/variation. The last time round IIRC the lovely lady doing the food trolley remembered that there was something on one of the other trolleys that hadn't been needed and came back with it after finishing the rest of the ward.
The people delivering the food are usually apologetic if they don't have something that is your first preference when you're fresh in, or have been with my dad.
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Caporegime
Partner fell and broke her wrist yesterday.
Rather than going to A&E which not doubt would have been horrendous we went to Solihull UTC. She was triaged, x-ray'd, diagnosed and casted up within an hour and a half.
Top class service.
Rather than going to A&E which not doubt would have been horrendous we went to Solihull UTC. She was triaged, x-ray'd, diagnosed and casted up within an hour and a half.
Top class service.
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You're quite correct in how they do things as my wife used to do ward catering and that's it to a tee. Also had my mum in and out of hospital quite regularly and the same thing would happen although not the vegan part.
Soldato
Joined27 Dec 2009Posts10,547
We should be more like the US, where you don't have to pay for other people's treatment and medical costs are kept low by competition and efficiency in the private sector.
Medical bills in the USA are the main cause of bankruptcy.
So you want to add the spectre of bankruptcy onto people who become ill ?
Soldato
Plus NHS catering department think everyone has the appetite of a 90 year old….
Hence why on visiting hospital last year for a minor procedure, saw about 4 food couriers.
A distant relative’s daughter has various food allergies. They gave her food as didn’t want to spend more time in hospital.
Soldato
I could spend all day writing an essay on this, but I will try to keep it short.
I think the NHS is overloaded, because people expect to pay nothing for it, it's badly run, people over-use it and expect miracles. Even so, it is a fantastic service, but because it is over-loaded it can not work without mistakes.
Medical care is extremely expensive and yet people expect 110% cover, no mistakes, while costing nothing. It is never going to happen. We have to let the Conservatives dismantle it, as they are doing, or we have to pay more for it.
I think the NHS is overloaded, because people expect to pay nothing for it, it's badly run, people over-use it and expect miracles. Even so, it is a fantastic service, but because it is over-loaded it can not work without mistakes.
Medical care is extremely expensive and yet people expect 110% cover, no mistakes, while costing nothing. It is never going to happen. We have to let the Conservatives dismantle it, as they are doing, or we have to pay more for it.
You are right, the over management and red tape that has developed is way out of proportion to the medical aspects.
funny you should say that. i'll repost this here just in case you missed my other post.
I think it’s often popular to say the issues are management and red tape, and no doubt the are plentiful examples of this, but straight out numbers of clinical staff are not enough in most areas for what people need/want (the mismatch between genuine needs and wants is also an issue) and as the government fiddles as Rome burns the retention of those staff is horrendous and the situation worsens. Industrial action isn’t going away any time soon, in fact it is very likely to get significantly worse as I predict primary care voting for IA very soon
No one's denying the increase in numbers but if not efficiently managed that isn't going to help is it?
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Commissario
IIRC the NHS may not be as efficiently managed as it could possibly ever be, but most of the studies comparing it to other countries point to it being more efficient than most, with lower management numbers.
Basically there is always going to be "room for improvement" if all you're looking at is decreasing cost of management/numbers, but that doesn't necessarily corollate with an improvement in care as quite a few of the NHS management bods will be there for regulatory and standards compliance (the admin staff who are making sure equipment is maintained on schedule, the ones watching to spot patterns in mistakes etc).
Possibly one of the biggest savers for the NHS would be to dump all the "public private partnership" stuff where you got a "new hospital" but rather than the government paying upfront it was loaded onto the hospital trusts for the next 20-30 years at far more than the cost would have been, and with massive increased ongoing costs because the building owner gets to set pricing for things like repairs/minor changes as opposed to the trust either doing it in house or using a cheaper contractor.
Thanks for the simple explanation, I know there are many different factors involved of course. I have a wife and son who both work in the NHS and the impression I get from some of the things that they say, is that (in our area)there has been an increase of admin staff and a reduction in the rest.