God Bless the NHS!

3 operations and 4 weeks later, my poor old Dad is home!!!! Despite being taken to a hospital miles and miles away with numerous set backs, he has had the best care imaginable. Staff in ICU and HDU work 16 hour shifts - I couldn't believe it; 3 days on 2 days off. One nurse to one patient. Unbelievable. I know the NHS gets a terrible press, and no doubt there are many reasons why and where etc etc, but I cannot fault the care my Dad has received. Thankfully there are still NHS staff out there who believe in what they do and do it well! A word to all the self employed out there.............don't cheat the system - pay up - or else!:D

Wino wrote: 3 operations and 4 weeks later, my poor old Dad is home!!!! Despite being taken to a hospital miles and miles away with numerous set backs, he has had the best care imaginable. Staff in ICU and HDU work 16 hour shifts - I couldn't believe it; 3 days on 2 days off. One nurse to one patient. Unbelievable. I know the NHS gets a terrible press, and no doubt there are many reasons why and where etc etc, but I cannot fault the care my Dad has received. Thankfully there are still NHS staff out there who believe in what they do and do it well! A word to all the self employed out there.............don't cheat the system - pay up - or else!:D

Keep this alive !!! Fight for your basic rights over the Channel !!! Of course, we are seen as non-stop demonstrators here, but some demonstrations are very necessary to be held ! Go in the streets and tell what you think of it to mister Blair... And it could, maybe, calm down the stupid politicians here who constantly say that our NHS is as shitty as the British one and that we should close all these places which are no source of profits... bloody wankers... they work less than a nurse does...

this world goes crazy... the more countries get richer, the less they spent on their people's health...

Jiphy wrote: this world goes crazy... the more countries get richer, the less they spent on their people's health...

45 million Americans with no health coverage, in what is supposedly the richest country on Earth.

damn, i miss the NHS. for a while i was getting my meds from canada when i moved back to the states from the UK. now our lovely government has made that illegal because it might be 'unsafe' (those dangerous canuks!). thank god i have a (halfway) decent insurance plan now. health care is a right, not a privilege!

Generic wrote:

Comrade Shampanyov wrote:

Jiphy wrote: this world goes crazy... the more countries get richer, the less they spent on their people's health...

45 million Americans with no health coverage, in what is supposedly the richest country on Earth.

but Richard...

according to many that I have spoken to...it's no big deal...with now health coverage, they can still get QUALITY health care...

of course, I REFUSE to believe that crap!

My health plan is called "don't get sick." God Bless America.

AgentWood wrote: health care is a right, not a privilege!

Only in civilized countries, Woodsy.

but you'll be a rich lawyer soon. then you won't have to care about the rest of us when you're living in your fully-automated house. ;)

Comrade Shampanyov wrote: My health plan is called "don't get sick." God Bless America.

new kind of Apartheid ? economic genocide ?

AgentWood wrote: but you'll be a rich lawyer soon. then you won't have to care about the rest of us when you're living in your fully-automated house. ;)

You've sussed me out!

Jiphy wrote:

Wino wrote: 3 operations and 4 weeks later, my poor old Dad is home!!!! Despite being taken to a hospital miles and miles away with numerous set backs, he has had the best care imaginable. Staff in ICU and HDU work 16 hour shifts - I couldn't believe it; 3 days on 2 days off. One nurse to one patient. Unbelievable. I know the NHS gets a terrible press, and no doubt there are many reasons why and where etc etc, but I cannot fault the care my Dad has received. Thankfully there are still NHS staff out there who believe in what they do and do it well! A word to all the self employed out there.............don't cheat the system - pay up - or else!:D

Keep this alive !!! Fight for your basic rights over the Channel !!! Of course, we are seen as non-stop demonstrators here, but some demonstrations are very necessary to be held ! Go in the streets and tell what you think of it to mister Blair... And it could, maybe, calm down the stupid politicians here who constantly say that our NHS is as shitty as the British one and that we should close all these places which are no source of profits... bloody wankers... they work less than a nurse does...

this world goes crazy... the more countries get richer, the less they spent on their people's health...

Don't get me wrong; there is a LOT wrong with the NHS; simple stupid things that could so easily and relatively cheaply, be put right.

Getting an appointment with the local GP is just ridiculous; they change the system every other month to try and a) adhere to government guidelines and b) shut the patients up from moaning!
The exemptions for prescription charges are weird; so taking out all the overall exemptions, such as certain age, benefits received etc; you could have a serious life threatening illness such as certain kinds of heart disease and you have to pay for your medication, or something relatively non-serious and you have exemption?!? Seems a bit weird to me. Also, if you are exempt, then you don't pay for ANY drugs prescribed. So say for example you have exemption for something(usually it is something ongoing ie, a drug you will need for 'life') but you go to the Doctors with a bad back, or an ear infection etc, you will also get THOSE drugs free........I think exemption should be JUST for the drug for THAT condition.

Could save a fortune..........and give the NHS workers on ground level a pay rise! Listening to a programme the other day 'Healthcare Assistants' earn around £5k a year and Porters in hospitals earn LESS than that! A Ward Sister earns around £20-£30k; a relative of mine is an Oncology Nurse, but on a 'Matron' pay level but she herself says that it's the remainder of staff below her that keeps it all ticking over.....I think they probably deserve a bit more than £100 per week pick up? Also on this programme (Jeremy Vine Radio 2!), some guy rang in to say his Daughter had gone through University to train as a Nurse part funded by the NHS, but now qualified, she can't get a job, even though she is prepared to travel a fair way.......for every nursing job in any hospital there are apparently hundreds of applications and they are taking on staff from all over the world to fill the jobs, because they can start them on the lowest wages......now if you have a problem with that, you need to address Mr Blair!

The Staff I saw first hand night and day in that first week, deserve more than a pat on the back......that's not going to pay their bills is it?

Jiphy wrote:

Comrade Shampanyov wrote: My health plan is called "don't get sick." God Bless America.

new kind of Apartheid ? economic genocide ?

You can make sure everybody's got a sufficient slice of pie,

or

you can make sure some people have most of the pie, a slightly larger group has a decent slice of the pie, and most people are watching from the street.

45 million Americans with no access to health care, in the richest country on Earth.

45 million Americans with no health coverage, in what is supposedly the richest country on Earth.

Bullshit. Just go to the hospital when you are ill or injured.

True story.

One of my employees refused to sign up for insurance. Decent coverage at a fair price. he came home drunk one night, placed a few hot dogs in what he thought was a pot of water, turned the stove on and finally passed out on the couch watching tv. His common law wife woke up much later nearly asphixiating from smoke. She discovers that the ceiling above the stove is engulfed in flames. The pot of water boiling hot dogs was actually a pot of grease. Too drunk and stubborn to flee, Martin tells Cindy to dial 911 while he attempts to put out the fire. He picked up the flaming pot and made a run for the back door.

RESULTS Serious burns to right hand and arm. 3rd degree I believe. A trip to the emergenecy room provided immediate relief but he had to go to the University of Iowa Hospital for skin grafts and treatment. First skin grafts get infected so a second round was ordered.

They told him since he did not have insurance that he was not liable for any cost sans the medicine. $500 for drugs was all he paid for surgery, two skin grafts, several days in the hospital and therapy.

I often wonder why I pay for insurance.

twist wrote:

45 million Americans with no health coverage, in what is supposedly the richest country on Earth.

Bullshit. Just go to the hospital when you are ill or injured.

True, the emergency ward is required to provide basic health care in an emergency.

There are two things wrong with this approach to health care. First, you don't go to the emergency room until you've got an emergency. So people hold back on health care that prevents emergencies from developing in the first place. Second, emergency care is the most expensive care there is, so when people go to emergency for health problems that a doctor can and should be treating, they're being treated in the least efficient manner possible.

Civilized country my arse.

Frankly I wish it was free. I hate paying for insurance. the Insurance Industry is the Numero Uno Leech Industry in the US.

But I know more people without insurance that have made more visits to clinics and such this year than my entire family has thus far.

twist wrote: Frankly I wish it was free. I hate paying for insurance. the Insurance Industry is the Numero Uno Leech Industry in the US.

But I know more people without insurance that have made more visits to clinics and such this year than my entire family has thus far.

It's the working poor who get screwed. If you're on welfare, you have access to clinics, although I gotta tell ya, I've been to those clinics when my best mate was sick, and they're no picnic. But if you have a job, you can't get on medicare, and if your employer doesn't provide health benefits, you're up that creek without a paddle.

Wino wrote: Don't get me wrong; there is a LOT wrong with the NHS; simple stupid things that could so easily and relatively cheaply, be put right.

Yes I know. Here, we have English in hospital rooms in the North and Spanish nurses in the South... + people from all over the world as underpaid doctors comparing to the French ones who are served first and first to go to private hospitals in order to raise their incomes. Well I have nothing against it frankly. Just wonder where French doctors lost their deontology on the way and why we are to spoil other countries of people they are in need with... The plus, in the British system, is that, I believe, you can access to a lot of things for free. Here, everything has to be paid and then partially refunded by Social Security first and private health insurance later... What a useless mess on your bank account, especially if you are alone...

No system is the best, all we have to care about is to keep what it is worth it instead to skip it because the neighbor does...

i know it is not nice to say but ... at some point society cannot afford to keep trying to keep everybody alive forever.

in the USA people keep living longer while poor health from poor lifestyle gets worse and worse, many even are "disabled" before 50 years while health care for kids and public schools suffer... at what point will something give?

Comrade Shampanyov wrote: My health plan is called "don't get sick." God Bless America.

I'm on the same plan, m'man! We oughta compare benefits some time!

Don't get sick, don't do stunts, don't become embroiled in a swordfight, and certainly no dangling from chandeliers!

i quite like our public health/medicare health system. you get the same treatment as if you were a private patient. actually many private patients elect to be treated as public patients here. i recently had the pleasure of a little hospital visit and got top notch treatment.