NHS **** you

richyfingers

richyfingers

richyfingers

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Troon
Just found out today that the NHS will not be paying for a second course of treaetment for my dad. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2009. Unfortunately the tumour had passed the stage of being operated on and he began a course of hormone therapy. This kept it at bay for a while until it was decided that he should begin a course of chemotherapy. This ended around 3 months ago now. Since then his PSA levels have risen quite rapidly, quadrupling since the treatment ended which is leading the doctors to believe it is quite aggressive. He was told few weeks ago that he would have to undergo another course of chemo.


They just got back from a well deserved holiday last week and were at the hospital today when he hit them with the bombshell. There was a trial of a drug which was free but that ended a few months ago and it now has to be paid for, 37k a year, the chemo is even more expensive than that. The gutting thing is is that my dads friend who also has prostate cancer got on the trial a few months ago and will be on it for free for the rest of his life. He's responded really well to it and the prognosis is good.


I'm so ****ing angry and upset that they can do this. My dad is 68, worked all his life, raised three children, been the best dad to me and my brother and sister. We are very close as a family and I have so much time and respect for him.


At work I deal with the absolute dregs of society most days, sponging wasters that get everything handed to them on a plate. Junkies who get put on drug rehab programmes, given methadone when its quite clear the scum will never change. Yet my dad who is more deserving that any of those ***** is basically given the middle finger and told to **** off.


Obviously as a family were going to try and look into funding this between us but I’m keen to explore all options. I'm hoping there’s some sort of fund or grant that can maybe be applied for. Is anyone aware of such a scheme?
 
i feel for you and it seems very unfair.

however, i have nothing but praise for the nhs. i'm currently undergoing tests to see if i have rheumatoid arthritis (i hope not, only thing i have on my side is it is not present in my family, think i'm just getting old) one of the procedures for doing this was a chest x-ray. i got a note from my gp, walked into my local hospital at 15:00 hours, by 15:30 hours, i had, had the x-ray done and was on my way home. to me, that is a fantastic service.

there has been other times they have really helped me and others i know too. i truely am sorry for your situation but i cannot personally **** the nhs off for the service i have recieved.
 
Welcome to Britain.

Where the drug-addicted-council house-staffie owning-fathers of 12 may just sponge on society and we are all told we should 'pity' them and give them money so they do not fall into poverty.

And the honest man, who spent his working life paying taxes to his country. Is merely forgotten about.

This stuff makes me mad.

:(
 
Is it possible for him to change doctor? My Dad has prostate cancer, and his original consultant in Aberdeen did everything they could up until a point but in the end treatment was withdrawn because it wasn't helping. He then moved consultant to one at Dundee and is on a different course of treatment and seems to be responding well with that.
I'm not sure what treatment he is on, it's no longer chemo and he has the odd radiotherapy session for pain relief. I could find out if you want?

cm1179 said:
i feel for you and it seems very unfair.

however, i have nothing but praise for the nhs. i'm currently undergoing tests to see if i have rheumatoid arthritis (i hope not, only thing i have on my side is it is not present in my family, think i'm just getting old) one of the procedures for doing this was a chest x-ray. i got a note from my gp, walked into my local hospital at 15:00 hours, by 15:30 hours, i had, had the x-ray done and was on my way home. to me, that is a fantastic service.

there has been other times they have really helped me and others i know too. i truely am sorry for your situation but i cannot personally **** the nhs off for the service i have recieved.
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There's a few RA sufferers on here, myself included. Forde is another one (sure he won't mind me mentioning it). If you need any advice about it all, feel free to send some messages. It's a rubbish illness.
 
Any information that anyone can give me would be hugely appreciated. I refuse to just sit and take this. RobbieG,I cant remember the name of the trial drug. I'll try and find out, just don’t want to text my dad "what’s the name of that trial drug your not getting"

I'm going to draught up a letter for the local MP, in terms of going to the press what’s the best way to go about that? Never done anything like this before.
 
Ahleckz said:
There's a few RA sufferers on here, myself included. Forde is another one (sure he won't mind me mentioning it). If you need any advice about it all, feel free to send some messages. It's a rubbish illness.
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thanks. there is zero history of it in my family and my gut feeling is it's just a case of me getting older but it is a worry.

sorry for the slight hijacking op :)
 
You'd probably have this problem without the NHS (i.e. getting an insurer to cover the latest leading treatment, or more than x courses of it) unless you had the best of the best private healthcare.

So have they told him no more treatment at all, or just not this particular treatment?
 
Why does it cost 37k??? Can't really blame the NHS can you?

Who decides the price of a life? Maybe we should stop treating people over the age of 90??
 
My girlfriends great uncle, old fellow - 88, has prostate cancer. Too old and far gone for operation. He is on weekly Chemo for it at the moment. His cancer nurse was pretty honest with him and told him at his age it wont get cured, he will die with it. They said it WOULDNT kill him just that he would have it for the rest of his natural life.
 
Andy said:
Why does it cost 37k??? Can't really blame the NHS can you?
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Probably because that is what the company that makes them charges, to recoup the tens of millions they will have spent on r&d thus far.

Who decides the price of a life? Maybe we should stop treating people over the age of 90??
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It's not a question of deciding the "price of a life", it's a question of balancing a budget. I sympathise with the OP, but if this trial drug had been continued, it would have resulted in someone elses father/mother/brother/sister/child being refused theirs.

It's tragic whichever way you look at it, but I understand why it has to be done.
 
But their shouldn't be a budget on medicine.

You can guarantee that, That care trust has wasted over £37k each and every year on crap of some sort or another.

I've had dealings with local councils and PCT's and the amount of money they can waste is staggering
 
If there wasn't a set budget, the nhs would go bust pretty quickly, as the pharma companies would bump up prices to suit..

Kinda sucky position to be in for anyone tbh.
 
I thought it was abit of a big issue that Pharmo Co's made billions?

Do we care though? Aren't the UK a big player in that sector?
 
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