The NHS is a joke

[Craig.]

sorry if that offends you Will, not a personal attack on you.

Now all i can say is they are a joke. as some people know i have post concussion syndrome(which is pretty bad) or at least this is almost 100% confirmed, i was told i would have a neurologist appointment before christmas where the problem would be confirmed and sorted out. however today, i get a letter telling me it would be 6 months before they will give me an appointment, even after i explained i wouldnt be here in 6 months, and that without this being cured i am unable work, they promise yes it will be sorted before Xmas, What a F'n joke.
So now its going to mean if we do move to the US, i can kiss goodbye to getting health insurance and will have to some how pay for the treatment out of my own pocket.
The sooner somebody does something about it the better.

side note i know a guy who is waiting for an operation on his heart, he has been told 18 months wait. anyone wanna explain???

[Smoke2much]

No offense taken Craig .

I will not try and defend the NHS as no defense is possible, waiting lists are as bad now as they have ever been.  The problem is simply one of workload.  There are too many demands on the system for it to cope.

Please just remember that those of us who are the little cogs in the very large machine are trying as hard as we can to make what we have work properly.  Unfortunately it never will to the complete satisfaction of even 10% of our users.

I hope you get sorted out soon mate.

Best wishes.

Will

[Woodlouse2002]

Hey, at least it's free!!!

[Craig.]

Hi Will its not so much the medical staff themselves i have a problem with, i know they are working as hard as they can to get this sorted, but in the end it wont really be possible. Its the people who have screwed the system up so badly that people with serious heart conditions are forced to wait a year and a half for surgery, during which time they could die.
as for it being free, i would right now prefer to pay to get it sorted, the amount it would cost, is nothing compaired to what i am going to loose because i cant work.

[Smoke2much]

If you can afford to pay you do, unfortunately, have options.  Write to your Consultant neurologist offering to be seen as a private patient.  You will be amazed how quickly you get seen.  Please be aware however that this is the root cause of many of the current problems in the NHS and will make the situation worse for the rest of us.

Will

[Craig.]

sadly i cant afford to pay for it right now. its that usual cycle of need job to pay for treatment, but need treatment to get a job:)
i am going back to my GP this week and going to see what she has to say about it.

[Smoke2much]

It's the usual litany Craig.

Whilst you are seeing your GP and complaining and she is sympathising your Neurologist is seeing Mr Fotherington-Smythe-Fitzherbert for

[Hagar]

Not all private patients are wealthy or have fancy names. Many are ordinary people just like me, forced to fork out the money from their hard-earned savings to get the treatment they need before they die or deteriorate waiting in the the queue. Private operations are often carried out in the same NHS hospital by the same surgeons & theatre staff. An old crony of mine just paid a small fortune (in advance) for a quadruple heart by-pass (fortunately successful so far) & this happened in his case. He was not allowed inside the door until he paid up. Just as well he took his credit card.

[ozzy72]

Agreed Hagar, its the system that is wrong, not the service.
My mum was a nurse for over 40 years (retired this year), and she was sickened by the fact that hospitals have gone from being places that treat the sick, to places that produce masses of paperwork!
She used to get really worked up when some bonehead MP was visiting, and the cleaners would actually clean properly, and not the rest of the time. Little things.
However she did have one high-point, she held Roger Moores (her second favourite actor of all time) hand after he'd cut it open during the filming of View To A Kill. The doctor was trying to be condescending and rude to my mum, and Roger Moore told him off for being a jerk. Then the next night he sent a huge bouquet of flowers (we could barely fit it in the car!!!)
It was about a week before we could get an intelligent comment out of her
Personally I admire anyone who works as a doctor or nurse, they do deserve our admiration, they do a job that few people can. My hat is off to Will.

Ozzy

PS. If you want to find a little appreciation for the NHS then try visiting a Romanian hospital. That WILL scare the willies out of you

[Craig.]

once again, i am not criticising most of the doctors, they do their job 90% of the time as they should, as for private treatment like i said, if i could afford it i would, however i wouldnt pay for it in this country, i would get the treatment abroad. why take away from someone who needs something more important checking out because i have the money.

[Wing Nut]

Well, at least you HAVE National Health Care. :-/

[Scottler]

Mixed emotions here.

NHS seems great, in theory.

Unfortunately, in order to do something similar in the US it would require a significant tax burden, and we'd be paying substantially more taxes already.

Not to mention that there are already, IMO, enough government programs, I really don't need to pay for another one.  lol

But on the flip side, look at health coverage in the US.  It is ridiculously expensive.  I know people that pay 600-700 per month, for just their own coverage.  Absolutely outrageous.

The reason for it is twofold.  Yes, there are morons out there who fraudulently bill the insurance companies.  But if you've ever seen what hospitals bill these companies...I mean come on.  Does a band-aid really cost $18?  Do aspirin cost $7 a pill?  

Because insurance companies (most of them anyway, there are exceptions) are privately owned corporations, there's someone at the top who is making literally millions of dollars a year to run them.  THIS is where the problem is.