NFR NHS

[Andy S]

Today on its 70th Birthday I would like to pay tribute to the NHS. There are none of us who have not been grateful to it at sometime in our life. It makes me proud to be British. It was a world leader when it was introduced in 1948 and although not perfect I salute it as a world leader 70 years on

[Mitch]

I can agree with that; it's in no way a world leader in health care and needs a lot of work (I think it's not even ranked in the top 20 for most proficient health services, but I wouldn't want to state that as fact without finding the source I read that in), but would I rather not pay monthly for it and have it when I, and anyone else for that matter, needs it? Absolutely not. It's nice to know it's there and that people can rely on it, even with all of its faults.

[MJG]

Difficult to talk about the NHS without getting a bit political, but while not being best in the world (how ever that is marked) by being free at the point of first use then its excellent.
It has many issues and if I was to change anything it would be to get it back to the basics of serving the public when ill and prevention.
A lot of things should be dropped or charged for because simply as we fund it now it cannot continue.
Everytime Ive used it Ive been failry happy. Allways areas to improve, but its full of bloody hard working people on not massive wages doing a job a lot of them really care about.
best of luck for the next 70 years hopefully.

[toshes mate]

The Commonwealth Fund looked at health services across the world in 2017, including all major competitors - in Europe, Asia, North and South America and Oceania.  The NHS came out top and has a clinical trials unit that is the envy of the whole world.   It has defects of course but for what it achieves it is relativity inexpensive in comparison to other systems when all bureaucratic measures required to support them are considered.  It isn't true it cannot go on as it is now and the many funding scares would stop if there was a political will to protect it at all costs.  We are a rich country but we tend not to invest in our own success stories, more so since joining the EU in 1972, and that is not a cue for Brexit.  It is simply a statement of fact. 

[Snibbo]

Cherish it and protect it. As Joni Mitchell said "You don't know what you got til it's gone"

[Burt]

All I know is that the NHS and the amazing people at Kingston Hospital and the two Royal Marsden branches saved my boy's life on more than one occasion, and for that alone they will always have my deep gratitude.

Multiply that by the millions of other lives saved, emergencies successfully dealt with, treatments undertaken, research programs initiated, etc. not to mention the thousands of dedicated workers who get a fraction of the wages that a a professional footballer does despite doing something far more useful then there is no doubt in my mind that the NHS is a bit of a gem.

Here's to another 70 years  082.gif

[tommy]

Cherish it and protect it. As Joni Mitchell said "You don't know what you got til it's gone"

Exactly this. Living in Canada now. Man I miss the NHS

[fulhampete]

Difficult to talk about the NHS without getting a bit political, but while not being best in the world (how ever that is marked) by being free at the point of first use then its excellent.
It has many issues and if I was to change anything it would be to get it back to the basics of serving the public when ill and prevention.
A lot of things should be dropped or charged for because simply as we fund it now it cannot continue.
Everytime Ive used it Ive been failry happy. Allways areas to improve, but its full of bloody hard working people on not massive wages doing a job a lot of them really care about.
best of luck for the next 70 years hopefully.

If you ignore the politics of this you are turning a blind eye to the biggest threat to the NHS. The Tories are committed to passing everything over to the private sector, why else would so many of their members have such investment in these companies? Those who believe this would improve our system should look at the U S and remember what insurance runs on. Only non risk patients will enable investors to make the profits that drive these companies. In this country these companies 'cherry pick' what they can offer and rely on the NHS picking up the rest. The cost of private cover will rocket if high risk 'customers' are included unless of course they just wash their hands of these unfortunates.

[Holders]

I've never had any complaints, only praise when I've used it. Is it only 70 years old? Whatever did people do before? My daughter had a nasty accident in Greece not so long and and the treatment she received was awful and could have left her paralysed.

I would agree with MJG that it should concentrate on core values. I believe that it shouldn't offer certain non-essential treatments free of charge - like IVF, gender reassignment and certain other non-essential cosmetic surgeries. If people really want these they can pay for them.

An American friend who was visiting fell and cut her head at Heathrow and got NHS treatment. They didn't ask her if she was insured (she was) or attempt to get the cost back. I think that's wrong.

[Peabody]

I was first diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when I was 30 in 1969 and I have wanted for nothing,.

THREE CHEERS FOR THE NHS

[Fulham Tup North]

I would agree with MJG that it should concentrate on core values. I believe that it shouldn't offer certain non-essential treatments free of charge - like IVF, gender reassignment and certain other non-essential cosmetic surgeries. If people really want these they can pay for them.

I agree to some degree, but how do you say what should and should not be treatable?  You say 'Gender reassignment' should be paid for, but you would not (I hope) expect someone with mental issues / depression, to pay for that.  People going through G/R can be horrendously depressed by living 'in the wrong body'.
I work in Scarborough at our Hospital and agree certain things could be re-charged, but there is no way of doing it fairly.  We have loads of Saturday / Sunday amateur football sides and if someone gets their ankle broken or an indoor wall climber falls and hurts themselves you cannot say 'That's you own fault matey' pay up.  Sometimes you have to see beyond that actual illness / reason they are in Hospital and look at other underlying effects the Patient has also.  Do we ignore the Drunk or the Druggie as it is self inflicted?  The Obese for being Lazy?  Smokers etc.  I am not having a go at anyone, but in my experience people in Hospital nearly always have other 'underlying' issues. 
It would not matter about money either, as the more you put in, the more will be spent.  Better Management would certainly help and maybe some accountability for when money is wasted, like in the normal business world.
But all in all, we should be grateful for what we have :)
Happy Birthday NHS  !!

[ron]

Agree about tighter control on purchase orders etc but the underlying problem is that people expect the same level of care for our larger, older population as in 1948 in a more technically advanced and more expensive age where outcomes are in fact far better than then.....for about the same cost adjusted for inflation.  It has become political suicide to suggest tax increases to properly fund the nhs and people still want schools and hospitals at no cost to themselves.

[alfie]

I would agree with MJG that it should concentrate on core values. I believe that it shouldn't offer certain non-essential treatments free of charge - like IVF, gender reassignment and certain other non-essential cosmetic surgeries. If people really want these they can pay for them.

I agree to some degree, but how do you say what should and should not be treatable?  You say 'Gender reassignment' should be paid for, but you would not (I hope) expect someone with mental issues / depression, to pay for that.  People going through G/R can be horrendously depressed by living 'in the wrong body'.
I work in Scarborough at our Hospital and agree certain things could be re-charged, but there is no way of doing it fairly.  We have loads of Saturday / Sunday amateur football sides and if someone gets their ankle broken or an indoor wall climber falls and hurts themselves you cannot say 'That's you own fault matey' pay up.  Sometimes you have to see beyond that actual illness / reason they are in Hospital and look at other underlying effects the Patient has also.  Do we ignore the Drunk or the Druggie as it is self inflicted?  The Obese for being Lazy?  Smokers etc.  I am not having a go at anyone, but in my experience people in Hospital nearly always have other 'underlying' issues. 
It would not matter about money either, as the more you put in, the more will be spent.  Better Management would certainly help and maybe some accountability for when money is wasted, like in the normal business world.
But all in all, we should be grateful for what we have :)
Happy Birthday NHS  !!

I have been in the NHS for the last 14 years, and I do agree with what you are saying, but I also feel that the general public must play their part in not wasting nhs time and resources, I was in a&e week ago and some snob of a woman came in wth a cut finger and by god a broken nail, demanding to be seen, they put a plaster on her finger and sent her on her way, but thats time taken away from patients that really needed to be there, this goes on all the time.

[Twig]

Forget the mundan politics. The NHS is something to be extremely proud of. The institution, the staff, the ethics.
Of course it isn't perfect but a vast number of countries around the globe have committed to a similar system within the next five years. They obviously think we've got something right.

NHS, happy birthday and may there be many, many more.

[Oakeshott]

The NHS has many virtues but only those ignorant of how other systems work, and the clinical outcomes of some of those systems compared with ours, believe it is the envy of the world. We are, for example, far from the top of the league in respect of survival rates for various cancers.

[toshes mate]

In 2000 the UK's expenditure on the NHS lagged behind all other EU countries by over 2%.  By 2008 the difference was still minus 1.3% and it has been getting wider ever since.  For those reasons alone comparisons in outcomes need to be looked at in terms of cost per outcome and it is that that makes the NHS the world leader.  We could, overnight, afford to bridged the funding gap if there was a will to do it, but it would mean shattering the incomes of the many privateers hanging on to the NHS coat tails, not least the many recruitment agencies who fleece us when providing service cover simply to service a business model that has as many traps to it as FFP has for football.   If we want the NHS to be adequately funded then we need to shout loudly for a truly comprehensive NHS and not one that is increasingly fragmented by sleight of hand.  Poker is good fun for gamblers but it is not funny to take risks with people's lives.

[MJG]

Difficult to talk about the NHS without getting a bit political, but while not being best in the world (how ever that is marked) by being free at the point of first use then its excellent.
It has many issues and if I was to change anything it would be to get it back to the basics of serving the public when ill and prevention.
A lot of things should be dropped or charged for because simply as we fund it now it cannot continue.
Everytime Ive used it Ive been failry happy. Allways areas to improve, but its full of bloody hard working people on not massive wages doing a job a lot of them really care about.
best of luck for the next 70 years hopefully.

If you ignore the politics of this you are turning a blind eye to the biggest threat to the NHS. The Tories are committed to passing everything over to the private sector, why else would so many of their members have such investment in these companies? Those who believe this would improve our system should look at the U S and remember what insurance runs on. Only non risk patients will enable investors to make the profits that drive these companies. In this country these companies 'cherry pick' what they can offer and rely on the NHS picking up the rest. The cost of private cover will rocket if high risk 'customers' are included unless of course they just wash their hands of these eunfortunates.

Just to clarify I was ignoring the political side of things because of this site.  More than happy to discuss it anytime anyplace and defend it (NHS) from what some would do to it given their ideology.

[MJG]

As a % of GDP, the NHS costs twice as much now as it did in its heyday. That's money taken from other areas of public spending like defence. It's very easy to say nurses should be paid more, but what if you've a stark choice between cutting nurses' wages or sending our boys into battle with dodgy equipment? I'm proud to live in a country where we guarantee vital healthcare to all citizens, but it would be unforgivably short-sighted just to dismiss debates about efficiency, potential private sector investment etc. as some evil "ideology".

Evil is a bit much isn't it?

[Mince n Tatties]

Get all these clubbers spilling out of these places up and down the country at two in the morning legless,to pay for their treatment at all the A&E's.
These nurses and doctors have enough on their plate without treating self inflicted drunks.

[Holders]

Let's not carry out unnecessary cosmetic operations, not treat those who haven't paid their NI, claim back from foreigners who have health insurance, deter those who waste time or don't keep appointments and fund the NHS as needed even if it means 1p (or whatever) on all tax rates across the board. As someone said above, the management needs looking at. I know someone in the NHS who tells me horror stories of poor or mis-management and wasted money.

I think those views cover aspects of both sides of the politics on this.