So, the NHS...

dowie · 2 May 2018 at 19:47

Ugley_Matt said:
I have used my work supplied private health insurance for the first time recently and didn't enjoy the experience at all. Although i couldn't fault the consultant, care, facilities etc, the nagging thought throughout it all was, "am i covered for this" "that treatment sounds great, but am i covered" The experience of having to phone up to seek "permission" to get treated was not something that i would want to have to do as routine.

NHS is not perfect, but i have never worried about the cost or payment, only getting better.

Sure but you still have the NHS option there as a back up. It's is hardly much of a worry re: private cover.

You generally are covered though if your gp refers you to a specialist then generally you go see that specialist. If you're with one of the big insurers your consultant already likely knows what is covered. In fact you can make sure you see a consultant that charges within the guidelines of the insurer - just phone them and ask. If you do find one that doesn't then it generally isn't a big deal, the procedures/tests are pretty standard at any private hospitals that work with the big insurance companies(else they'd not have many customers!) and you'd just need to cover the extra fees for the consultation... like maybe you get someone who charges 230 and your insurer only covers 200 say.. well it hardly breaks the bank to pay an extra 30.

Hagar · 2 May 2018 at 20:12

Ugley_Matt said:
I have used my work supplied private health insurance for the first time recently and didn't enjoy the experience at all. Although i couldn't fault the consultant, care, facilities etc, the nagging thought throughout it all was, "am i covered for this" "that treatment sounds great, but am i covered" The experience of having to phone up to seek "permission" to get treated was not something that i would want to have to do as routine.

NHS is not perfect, but i have never worried about the cost or payment, only getting better.

I used my private insurance once in the last year of my employment, after 32 years of paying tax on it. This was to get a cataract sorted before it would have been authorised through the NHS. After consulting an optician, it went very smoothly.

The NHS is extremely good at doing what it was intended to do, and it does a lot more than it was originally set up to do.

glenimp617 · 2 May 2018 at 21:04

On the news about all the women who weren't sent breast cancer invitations. They are blaming the IT system.

I've said it many times before, and pardon my french....but the NHS IT systems are a ******* joke!

It's not the IT staff who I have an issue with, it's the management.

AHarvey · 3 May 2018 at 12:51

TheOracle said:
On the news about all the women who weren't sent breast cancer invitations. They are blaming the IT system.

I've said it many times before, and pardon my french....but the NHS IT systems are a ******* joke!

It's not the IT staff who I have an issue with, it's the management.

Having dealt with the IT systems in a couple of jobs they are an absolute joke. 200 systems + in a general hospital, very few talk to each other.

They'd be better employing a dedicated team of developers in-house, run everything from a Linux background to save money on licences and start building new systems from the ground up. No stupid expensive contracts that over run and cost double what they said.

CaptainRAVE · 3 May 2018 at 13:14

The NHS is less than useless in my experience. Glad there is at least one person who has gotten somewhere with them. I dread the day I need them for a serious ailment.

Diddums · 3 May 2018 at 13:15

My wife's cancer has been taken care of impeccably by the NHS. Obviously different surgeries and whatnot will have differing standards but I can't speak highly enough of Moorfields Eye Hospital.

Vanquish-Storm · 3 May 2018 at 13:25

From recent information from what I can see the NHS is being split and stretched.

You do not get the same level of "service?" across the whole of the NHS from one trust to another trust. This can be partly down to funding but also how that trust is being run.

One town has a brand new facility with great staff doing good work the town down the road has a rundown overcrowded building with overworked staff causing issues.

dowie · 3 May 2018 at 14:35

Vanquish-Storm said:
You do not get the same level of "service?" across the whole of the NHS from one trust to another trust. This can be partly down to funding but also how that trust is being run.

One town has a brand new facility with great staff doing good work the town down the road has a rundown overcrowded building with overworked staff causing issues.

you're entitled to get referred to the new facility if you want

or any facility really - like see Diddum's post - hardly a surprise that at a specialist eye hospital his wife had top notch care - you can choose your consultant on the NHS

if you've got an ENT issue then you could say choose to go to the The Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital in London for example, if you've got a cardiac issue you could chose to go to the royal Bromptom hospital etc..etc.. Most people don't bother but you've got the right to do it if you want.

Vanquish-Storm · 3 May 2018 at 16:49

dowie said:
you're entitled to get referred to the new facility if you want

or any facility really - like see Diddum's post - hardly a surprise that at a specialist eye hospital his wife had top notch care - you can choose your consultant on the NHS

if you've got an ENT issue then you could say choose to go to the The Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital in London for example, if you've got a cardiac issue you could chose to go to the royal Bromptom hospital etc..etc.. Most people don't bother but you've got the right to do it if you want.

Tried that - without going into too many details.

The patient was taken to the local hospital had the choice of two specialist hospitals close by as A) local hospital did not have all the tools to do possible procedures and b) did not have a clue what was going on. Transferred to one of the specialists. Was there for a month but it was a good hospital had a major op, was cleared to go home. Within a week back in A+E in local hospital in a corridor on a wheeled bed because there were no wards available. Asked about going back to the specialist hospital was told no all after care has been transferred to local hospital.

Sorry really poorly worded but not had time to write properly haha!

dowie · 3 May 2018 at 17:00

Vanquish-Storm said:
Tried that - without going into too many details.

The patient was taken to the local hospital had the choice of two specialist hospitals close by as A) local hospital did not have all the tools to do possible procedures and b) did not have a clue what was going on. Transferred to one of the specialists. Was there for a month but it was a good hospital had a major op, was cleared to go home. Within a week back in A+E in local hospital in a corridor on a wheeled bed because there were no wards available. Asked about going back to the specialist hospital was told no all after care has been transferred to local hospital.

Sorry really poorly worded but not had time to write properly haha!

you have the choice of being referred to any AFAIK, not just two specialist hospitals... are you talking about your local hospital referring you on or something?

AFAIK you can get your GP to refer you somewhere else...

suppose you moved house for example, you couldn't reasonably expect that the care now carries on under the specific local hospital. However the new rules, designed to stop there from being such a postcode lottery, are supposed to mean it doesn't matter where you live. I'd check with the GP if it is still on going and you've been fobbed off.

Vanquish-Storm · 3 May 2018 at 17:25

dowie said:
you have the choice of being referred to any AFAIK, not just two specialist hospitals... are you talking about your local hospital referring you on or something?

AFAIK you can get your GP to refer you somewhere else...

suppose you moved house for example, you couldn't reasonably expect that the care now carries on under the specific local hospital. However the new rules, designed to stop there from being such a postcode lottery, are supposed to mean it doesn't matter where you live. I'd check with the GP if it is still on going and you've been fobbed off.

Yes, sorry local hospital not GP. As far as I am aware there was no GP involved, it was initially ambulance to local A+E.

RetiredGreyFox · 3 May 2018 at 21:12

AHarvey said:
Having dealt with the IT systems in a couple of jobs they are an absolute joke. 200 systems + in a general hospital, very few talk to each other.

I'm not exaggerating to claim that I have access to more records systems than any other person in the Trust because it's the nature of my job.
Only yesterday I couldn't find ITU notes for a patient only to be told we have had a new system called PDMS since August, so PDMS admin had to come and give me a 5 minute lesson on it.
Two months ago I had a similar thing with Maternity records only to be told we have a system called K2 and about 4 months ago I found a system called Renal CTX, it's endless.
This is on top of the countless systems I already have access to.
Forgot, I've just signed a form so I can now get access to an archived Pathology system called Sunrise or something similar.