How good is your health system?

[florida sun]

Here in Wales its slighty different, with regards to prescriptions as we dont pay for prescriptions at all, but Im still a firm believer if you get something for free then you are paying for it in other ways, be that less money spent on education, rubbish collections etc etc. I also have free private healthcare with my firm, but again its not entirly free as Im taxed on it yearly through my salary, and we also have to pay an acess of £250 before any treatment through Bupa can begin, so I have never yet used it.

With regards my doctors, I can phone at 8.30am any morning and get an emergency appt that day with any Dr that is on, if I want to book an appt with my own GP then that can take upto 10 days.

It took just 6 weeks to get referred to see a consultant with regards my heart issues as I wasnt consisdered an immediate risk, so I thought that was really good, and when ,mum was diagonised with Breast Cancer, she was seen, consulted, and operated on all in a matter of 2 weeks. With brilliant follow up care.

On the other hand I fell down the stairs the other week, went to A&E, had to wait over 5 hours to be seen in a freezing cold hospital, but I know that it could have been much worse as a friend of mine was there the night before and waited 12 hours, so I guess, its some good and some bad but in my opinion our healthcare is not bad at all.

 

[manning]

one thing that is being tossed around is something like a means test in regard to age,

The idea is to take the cost of a procedure and divide that by your age. This gives you a score. If you are within the perameter of your age you got the procedure. If not you don't get the treatment. The older you get the less likely you will get treated. This would be for major procedures. As it is now if you have the money or insurance you are covered and will get the procedure.

The elderly are concerned about this. They see this as age related rationing.

Is this the case there??

 

[PoppyAnna]

I hope your daughters ok, I never had it done til I was 25,the best thing I ever done!Every time I get the cold I thank god that I have no longer have tonsils

Thank you. She's only five and although I feel sick to my stomach thinking about Monday I know it's ultimately for the best.

 

[wishspirit]

Private insurance isn't needed in the UK but it's always an option. We have private health insurance provided by my DH's employer and it has been a godsend for dealing with certain health issues that have required swift resolution but aren't prioritised by the NHS. One health problem my DH had was resolved within 3 months privately whereas the NHS were taking approximately 2 years to refer similar cases for surgery...

We had something similar, when my sister was younger was hospitalised with (at that time an) undiagnosed illness. The hospital figured it out to be Crohn's Disease, dealing with the blood work etc, and were mostly very good, except some medication mix ups and not giving her strong enough anti-nausia meds. At that time my dad was in a job which had health insurance, so she went to a private specialist to deal with it so she could jump the queue and choose her specialist, since my dad has left that job, and only has personal private healthcare, but she has transfered onto his NHS list, and gets to keep the same doctor!

one thing that is being tossed around is something like a means test in regard to age,

The idea is to take the cost of a procedure and divide that by your age. This gives you a score. If you are within the perameter of your age you got the procedure. If not you don't get the treatment. The older you get the less likely you will get treated. This would be for major procedures. As it is now if you have the money or insurance you are covered and will get the procedure.

The elderly are concerned about this. They see this as age related rationing.

Is this the case there??

To my knowledge it really isn't! Britain works on a basis of those who need it most go first (especially in A&E or emergency opperations), then its first come first served on each tier of need. Elderly people are given treatment if it is deemed worthy (and in some areas, cost efficient). They give treatment to people who need it, regardless of age.

My GP service is pretty good, they usually get me seen in 2 or 3 days if I ask for my GP, however if i am picky about seeing a female doctor (and i can be sometimes!) it can be a bit longer. My university one, however, is dreadful. It works on a good idea, which is a drop in service each morning then appointments in the afternoon, first come first served. However some days I have seen it so busy they have started turning people away at 10.30, or else the nurses couldn't finish for 12.30. Appointments can take days to get, and they make EVERYONE see a nurse first before they will refer you to the doctor. I have spent over 2 hours sitting in that waiting room waiting to be seen for the Doctor to then GOOGLE my symptoms!!! However if it is serious, they refer you straight to the Hospital.

 

[tennisfan]

Can't fault my local hospital, if it wasn't for them I would probably be still waiting to see a specialist about my knee.

My GP on the other hand I can't say the same, it is now a locum as my GP is more bothered about running his nursing homes & private work. We are lucky to have got a locum who will work for him as I remember the old practice nurse telling us he has a bad reputation.

I don't rate the locum either, he has had the wrong notes before & last time I went he had a load of medical files lying on the couch & desk for anyone to read.

the problem we have is that it is a one doctor surgery, it is hard to get an appointment. they don't do house calls but also criticise people for going to the emergency doctor by putting up letters in the surgery saying to not use it unless its an emergency. The thing is the emergency service will only give out appointments if its an emergency.

I have to say the NHS is a good thing, it would be even better were it not for the long waiting lists. I can't complain really as for both my surgeries I have only had to wait 6 weeks max.

I would love to change surgeries but all of them have closed their books & not taking on new patients.

 

[oceanscape]

I'm not a fan. We have private medical insurance and, personally speaking, I wouldn't step foot in many of the NHS hospitals here. My sister in law had a routine operation a couple of years ago at an NHS hospital and came out with MRSA. She was lucky to live; it was very serious.

The private hospitals seem so much cleaner and well managed. The doctors aren't rushed off their feet and actually bother to spend time with you. Having your own room and bathroom is so much nicer and more hygienic, too.

The NHS costs millions and millions yet, in my opinion, it is poorly run and a haven of inefficiency.

 

[manning]

I'm not a fan. We have private medical insurance and, personally speaking, I wouldn't step foot in many of the NHS hospitals here. My sister in law had a routine operation a couple of years ago at an NHS hospital and came out with MRSA. She was lucky to live; it was very serious.

The private hospitals seem so much cleaner and well managed. The doctors aren't rushed off their feet and actually bother to spend time with you. Having your own room and bathroom is so much nicer and more hygienic, too.

The NHS costs millions and millions yet, in my opinion, it is poorly run and a haven of inefficiency.

I didn't catch this at first. Are there two systems, the NHS and private? How does that work?

Can you give some perspective how I would have fared if I was there. I am in my 60s now. Over ten years ago I went to the hospital on a saturday due to bleeding and was diagnosed with colon cancer and had my operation the following wednesday.

Under your system would I have the had the same swift results or would I have had to wait. This is one question that is being asked.

 

[oceanscape]

I didn't catch this at first. Are there two systems, the NHS and private? How does that work?

Can you give some perspective how I would have fared if I was there. I am in my 60s now. Over ten years ago I went to the hospital on a saturday due to bleeding and was diagnosed with colon cancer and had my operation the following wednesday.

Under your system would I have the had the same swift results or would I have had to wait. This is one question that is being asked.

Yes, there are private hospitals and government-run (National Health Service) hospitals. NHS hospitals are open to all, without charge. They are funded through our taxation system - don't forget that we pay considerably higher taxes than you do in the USA (example: our sales tax was 17.5% and has just been reduced to 15% - still much higher than the equivalent taxes in the US).

People with private medical insurance can elect to be treated in a private hospital instead, OR, those without private medical insurance can choose to pay for private treatment (very expensive) if the NHS waiting list is very long or if they are unhappy with the idea of being treated in their local NHS hospital.

There is no easy answer to your question. It completely depends on a number of factors - some NHS hospitals are much faster than others. If it was a medical emergency that was critical that it was fixed, then I don't doubt that you would have received the same swift results under the NHS system here. The long waiting lists generally apply to non-emergency procedures. It's the lack of cleanliness and a decent standard of care that is my issue, not how long you have to wait if you are in critical need of an operation.

 

[tennisfan]

One good thing about the NHS in the past few months is you can now choose what hospital you want treatment from, i'm not talking emergencies.

 

[Dr_Finkelstein]

I didn't catch this at first. Are there two systems, the NHS and private? How does that work?

Can you give some perspective how I would have fared if I was there. I am in my 60s now. Over ten years ago I went to the hospital on a saturday due to bleeding and was diagnosed with colon cancer and had my operation the following wednesday.

Under your system would I have the had the same swift results or would I have had to wait. This is one question that is being asked.

Yes there are private hospitals, but they generally only treat elective/straightforward cases.ie., hip replacements/investigations etc.

They do not take emergency admissions - ie., you break your leg/have a heart attack/stroke - you go to the NHS hospital.

My MIL was getting treated on the NHS for leg ulcers, my SIL investigated transferring her to private healthcare and paying for it (she is a high flying banker). The private health company didn't want to know. They only tend to treat if it is straightforward and has a definate 'cure'. Something like a leg ulcer is too costly and the treatment drags on. BTW, she stayed with the NHS and is now almost healed.

Working in the NHS we often had patients transferred from private hospitals to our NHS unit for treatment as they can't always deal with more complex cases.

BTW, private hospitals also have cases of MRSA - they just don't like to publicise it!

di x

 

[tennisfan]

Also regarding the NHS you always hear the bad news, never the good. An example of this is a local hospital got named & shamed recently over a case. the next news story was some parents praising a hospital over treatment but the hospital wasn't named

 

[Booknut]

I have lived here in the UK for 13 years (i'm from Western Canada) in various places in London, Surrey and Wiltshire and it definitely is a postcode lottery as to the type of treatment you will receive. My big beef with the NHS is the inequality in the country. If we all pay the same for it then we should all have the same access to it. It's very poorly run and very top heavy. And sadly I have had better NHS treatment in the better areas that i've lived than the less affluent ones. It's just a fact.

Where I live now is excellent, my GP surgery has over 10 doctors on a rota, if you turn up between 9am and 10am you can see a doctor urgently without an appointment each day, they have late surgeries 2 days a week until 8pm and they work saturday mornings too. When I was pregnant the midwife care I got was excellent. I was a high risk pregnancy so I had to see a gyn/ob at the hospital, again no waits. When I got carpel tunnel in pregnancy I was referred to a physio at the hospital the same day for splints. All on the NHS.

The only negative i've experienced on the NHS so far has been post-natal care at the hospital. Not enough midwives, nurses, doctors etc, it was like Bedlam and was the reason I asked to be discharged 12 hours after giving birth - it was just better at home really. Once at home though I had a health visitor come see me every day for a week to see how I was doing, I could ask her questions etc so that was great and none of my friends in Canada had anything like that after they had their babies.

I'd love to say the private hospitals are the same as the NHS ones but i'd be lying The London Bridge Hospital is like a hotel compared to St. George's (where I gave birth). It was more comfortable, luxurious, I wasn't in a hurry to go home!

Was the care any better though? A little bit as they have more staff. But not a huge difference though.

Re your colon cancer, in my area you would have been seen to the same week but we have a specialist cancer unit. My neighbour was just diagnosed with cancer and he was operated on the same week and he's in his early 60s.

 

[hildasmuriel]

I can't speak highly enough of the NHS. When I read on the US board of people having to visit the finance department of some ER rooms BEFORE they have treatment I am aghast! (recent thread on the community board).

My sister collapsed at work 4 weeks ago and was taken by ambulance to the ER. She has thrombocytopenia - dangerously low blood platelets - and has been in hospital ever since. This week she had her spleen removed and had to spend a day in the high dependancy unit. She is back on the ward now,although still on a morphine drip. She will be in hospital for some time. This has been a very worrying time for our family, obviously, but we have NEVER had to consider the cost of this treatment or worry that she and her husband will be paying it back for years to come.
I remember saying something similar when my elderly Dad fell and broke his hip this time last year. (Seems January is not a lucky time for my family )

 

[thelittlemermaid83]

My health care is fantastic.

At my GP's if you need a appointment that day you ring up at 8am, if its not so urgent you can book one for the following week. I am very lucky that i always see my own GP, not a locum etc that maybe working at the doctors surgery. I have a great relationship with my GP and i know i can tell him anything etc.

I'm not one to be negative about the NHS in my area as i have always been treated well and never had to wait long for anything if there is a waiting list involved. Except i did have to wait 18 months for counselling when i really needed it sooner.

 

[manning]

Thank you for your insights. It is much appreciated. It looks like we may be in for some changes and you know the unknown can be unsettling.

 

[paulh]

i can only give you my own experiance, after my brouther had a problem with his eyes 9 years ago ,i was asked buy his hospital to be seen,to look for a genitic marker,it was found i had a rare eye problem(pigmentaticion dispersion sindrome)a form of glocoma(apolojys for spelling).
Am seen every 12 months to have a check up
While having an eye check up at opticions 2 years ago,he found it hard to prescribe glasses so referd me to hospital,which was a couple of weeks later.It was found that i had cataracts in both eyes.that was on the tuesday on the folowing monday i had the first eye done and the second one 6 weeks later (standared lenght inbetwen even in the states).Have had secondary cataracts since and this was sorted out within weeks
Last year after lossing weight (3 stone= 42lbs) in 6 months,which didnt bother me but the numbnes in my fingers bothered the wife.i mad an appointment to see doctor,as i thought it wasnt seriours had to wait for 2 weeks for one that suited me due to work
Whent doctors explained everything,she asked me to return in 2 days for bloods then phone in 10 days for results.atfer bloods taken 2 days later they phoned me to come in ASP which i did,told overactive thyriod.Was greferd to hospital and was seen within 6weeks,would have been sooner but i had a 3 week hoiliday with mickey to go to.
Only thing i have paid for is prescriptions,but the way it looks and they take out the thryiod they would be free for the rest of my life
if i wanted an apointment sooner i could have but i thought all my condictions at the time were not serious
Paulh

 

[orlandothebeagle]

i can only give you my own experiance, after my brouther had a problem with his eyes 9 years ago ,i was asked buy his hospital to be seen,to look for a genitic marker,it was found i had a rare eye problem(pigmentaticion dispersion sindrome)a form of glocoma(apolojys for spelling).
Am seen every 12 months to have a check up
While having an eye check up at opticions 2 years ago,he found it hard to prescribe glasses so referd me to hospital,which was a couple of weeks later.It was found that i had cataracts in both eyes.that was on the tuesday on the folowing monday i had the first eye done and the second one 6 weeks later (standared lenght inbetwen even in the states).Have had secondary cataracts since and this was sorted out within weeks
Last year after lossing weight (3 stone= 42lbs) in 6 months,which didnt bother me but the numbnes in my fingers bothered the wife.i mad an appointment to see doctor,as i thought it wasnt seriours had to wait for 2 weeks for one that suited me due to work
Whent doctors explained everything,she asked me to return in 2 days for bloods then phone in 10 days for results.atfer bloods taken 2 days later they phoned me to come in ASP which i did,told overactive thyriod.Was greferd to hospital and was seen within 6weeks,would have been sooner but i had a 3 week hoiliday with mickey to go to.
Only thing i have paid for is prescriptions,but the way it looks and they take out the thryiod they would be free for the rest of my life
if i wanted an apointment sooner i could have but i thought all my condictions at the time were not serious
Paulh

That certainly sounds like great treatment but ofcourse it is not free you have been paying NI.

I work in a vets and people expect a huge level of treatment, they compare it to the nhs, which makes me laugh as all emergencys are seen as soon as they arrive etc, but also they say, what how much?? It is free on the nhs and you charge bla bla for a blood sample, I feel like screaming, maybe you dont pay but I pay a large wedge of money of my wages every month as most folk do.

It is very interseting reading this, tX does seem to vary hugely depending on where folks live.

I am glad you are all well and fixed out Paul.

 

[paulh]

That certainly sounds like great treatment but ofcourse it is not free you have been paying NI.


I am glad you are all well and fixed out Paul.

Sure i read once that the tax take in the uk is around 42% of income,this would be bases on income tax,national insurance and tax on what we buy,and conuncil tax.and it is around the same amount in the states.
Still not quite fixed yet but getting there,after reading this that i am glad Mr Bevin set it up all those years ago
Paulh

 

[oceanscape]

.and it is around the same amount in the states.

Um, not sure where you got that from but it's not correct. We're taxed significantly more than residents in the USA.

 

[catherine]

I didn't catch this at first. Are there two systems, the NHS and private? How does that work?

Can you give some perspective how I would have fared if I was there. I am in my 60s now. Over ten years ago I went to the hospital on a saturday due to bleeding and was diagnosed with colon cancer and had my operation the following wednesday.

Under your system would I have the had the same swift results or would I have had to wait. This is one question that is being asked.

I'm an Endoscopy nurse so I can answer your question as far as the treatment you would've received in the hospital I work in and the surrounding hospitals. If a patient is admitted into the hospital with this type of bleeding they are sent to us for an emergency Colonoscopy. If they are query colon or rectal cancer they are referred to the specialist colorectal nurses, who then receive all the results from bloodwork, biopsies ets., arrange for the patient to have a scan etc. The allocated nurse also acts as the patients point of contact. When all the information is collated the patient is then seen by the specialist nurse and the specialist to talk with them about treatment. Most patients opt to have surgery, but not all do. If the patient opts for surgey then it is a priority and if the patient is fit enough will be done within a couple of days.

As far as the NHS is concerned my family and I have had excellent treatment. In fact in some cases we've had much better treatment than we would've had in CA. Yes, there are some areas where the hospitals are not up to scratch, but there are also areas in CA where they have the same type of problems. A friend of ours went to the emergency room for treatment and he had to wait 20 hours to be seen!!! I can't inagine the uproar there would've been in this country if this had been allowed to happen!

As far as our GP is concerned we've never had a problem getting an appointment, even if I've needed one on the same day that I've phoned. If one of us has needed to be referred to a specialist it has been taken care of right away. I can honestly say that we've never had a problem.

One of my DDs has had some health issues and had to be hospitalised for several months. There were many times that I sat there wondering what we would do if we were living in the States and had to pay for the healthcare that she was receiving. I cannot begin to imagine what it must be like to know that your child is ill and have to decide whether you can afford to take them for medical care! I really hope that President Obama can make a positive difference to the way healthcare is managed over there because it seems that what you have now is not working for a lot of people!