Vital Forest - Mental/Physical Wellbeing Groupchat

Pope John XXIII said:
It is badly managed, and badly staffed - not badly modelled

You will pay through the nose for anything else and ANY kind of private insurance system will ALWAYS, ALWAYS ALWAYS screw you over

The reality is- and a lot of NHS staff will say this- if it's an emergency and your life is in danger, it's one of the best in the world

For anything else, it's shite

But that said, I was watching Breaking Bad with my daughter the other day, and if that was set in the UK there wouldn't even be a series.

No one worries about how they are going to pay for medical treatment here, and no one worries about being financially crippled (via debt or higher insurance premiums) after needing it

We can criticise when the NHS gets things wrong but the reality is that the alternative for a very large part of the population would be zero
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Well said.

The NHS saved my life... Twice! If that was the US I would be bankrupt right now. Don't fully agree with the "for anything else, it's shite" comment. I have had to have two surgeries for non urgent conditions and it was smooth as silk. I was actually surprised at how professional, efficient and well informed it all was.

But, many things are total shite. Mental health provision on the NHS in this country is on it's arse and that's awful.
 
stenroach said:
First thing I did when I witnessed my mother's care was to get myself and kids into private insurance.

I've been in It a decade and the one time I used it was first class, investigative stuff but I had every test and scan going and results within a week for the potential issue.

It's the first thing I budget for every year., it now at around 180 quid a month for me and 2 grown up kids, the third gets it free at work
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Its the same doctors mate. Exactly the same
 
Pope John XXIII said:
Its the same doctors mate. Exactly the same
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Generally it is the same doctors Pope as you say, the thing is though generally its not the quality of the consultant that is the issue within the NHS, its the other bits that are so frustrating & need serious attention.

While you can wait months to see a consultant on NHS (or as they usually put it or "one of their team") if you are able to pay either through insurance or your personal means you can see the same consultant usually within days, be guaranteed it is the main man you see, in much more pleasant & relaxed surroundings.

If you are unfortunate enough to need surgery then in the private sector you will be guaranteed that it is the consultant of your choice that will actually carry it out & the aftercare is in a different league to that provided by NHS.

It's a sad state of affairs really that people have to make these choices really but having watched my dad suffer for years I'm with Stenroach on this one & made the same choice years ago. People sometimes resent others having private healthcare, & say its not fair, but believe me I've had to sacrifice many other things to pay for the insurance, but thats the choice I made.
 
stenroach said:
It wasnt.

It was at a private place at Burntstump.
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It is the park hospital. A close family member worked there for years

It is exactly the same doctors and consultants who work in the NHS

And if you are in overnight and have any kind of emergency, good luck- because there was never any fucker there

That's why they didn't bother taking up the free private healthcare that came with the job at the time- they didn't trust the care in those circumstances
 
seasider red said:
Generally it is the same doctors Pope as you say, the thing is though generally its not the quality of the consultant that is the issue within the NHS, its the other bits that are so frustrating & need serious attention.

While you can wait months to see a consultant on NHS (or as they usually put it or "one of their team") if you are able to pay either through insurance or your personal means you can see the same consultant usually within days, be guaranteed it is the main man you see, in much more pleasant & relaxed surroundings.

If you are unfortunate enough to need surgery then in the private sector you will be guaranteed that it is the consultant of your choice that will actually carry it out & the aftercare is in a different league to that provided by NHS.

It's a sad state of affairs really that people have to make these choices really but having watched my dad suffer for years I'm with Stenroach on this one & made the same choice years ago. People sometimes resent others having private healthcare, & say its not fair, but believe me I've had to sacrifice many other things to pay for the insurance, but thats the choice I made.
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I see this argument a lot- super fast appointment times, treatment etc.

And of course it is true- for a private service that is used by only a tiny proportion of the population

It wouldn't be true if the NHS was abolished and everything was private. Then, 100% of people would be using private, and they would have much the same capacity problems as the NHS do now

The difference would be that the shortest waiting times would go to the highest bidder, and those without the cash would then wait even longer and still pay through the nose rather than get it free
 
Pope John XXIII said:
I see this argument a lot- super fast appointment times, treatment etc.

And of course it is true- for a private service that is used by only a tiny proportion of the population

It wouldn't be true if the NHS was abolished and everything was private. Then, 100% of people would be using private, and they would have much the same capacity problems as the NHS do now

The difference would be that the shortest waiting times would go to the highest bidder, and those without the cash would then wait even longer and still pay through the nose rather than get it free
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I’m not trying to make an argument for an insurance backed healthcare system at all Pooe. Merely saying why I chose to take out insurance as a back up to NHS
 
seasider red said:
I’m not trying to make an argument for an insurance backed healthcare system at all Pooe. Merely saying why I chose to take out insurance as a back up to NHS
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Fair enough, and if you can afford it then at current usage levels it is obviously a positive thing to have

I was just responding to the wider points being made
 
Pope John XXIII said:
I see this argument a lot- super fast appointment times, treatment etc.

And of course it is true- for a private service that is used by only a tiny proportion of the population

It wouldn't be true if the NHS was abolished and everything was private. Then, 100% of people would be using private, and they would have much the same capacity problems as the NHS do now

The difference would be that the shortest waiting times would go to the highest bidder, and those without the cash would then wait even longer and still pay through the nose rather than get it free
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You have an opinion on something and are as usual oblivious to any other facts.

Does it matter who the doctors are or where they work on such days?

I know a lot are the same NHS staff, my mother could only see her consultant at the city on one day a week, the other 3 days he was doing private work elsewhere.

My last job where I contracted, had Bupa for all its permanent staff, a woman I know got diagnosed with the same cancer as my mother, she was operated on within a week, my mother took 9 months from a suspicious x-ray to starting treatment , let's just say their was 2 different outcomes.

You can pooh pooh it all-you want, just cos you dont approve, but iwould urge anyone else who can afford it get the fucker .
 
stenroach said:
You have an opinion on something and are as usual oblivious to any other facts.

Does it matter who the doctors are or where they work on such days?

I know a lot are the same NHS staff, my mother could only see her consultant at the city on one day a week, the other 3 days he was doing private work elsewhere.

My last job where I contracted, had Bupa for all its permanent staff, a woman I know got diagnosed with the same cancer as my mother, she was operated on within a week, my mother took 9 months from a suspicious x-ray to starting treatment , let's just say their was 2 different outcomes.

You can pooh pooh it all-you want, just cos you dont approve, but iwould urge anyone else who can afford it get the fucker .
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I didn't say I didn't approve

What I DID say about it was clearly written above

Private healthcare, like anything, is generally fantastic while relatively few people are using it

The argument against it being what everyone ends up with is therefore obvious
 
Pope John XXIII said:
I didn't say I didn't approve

What I DID say about it was clearly written above

Private healthcare, like anything, is generally fantastic while relatively few people are using it

The argument against it being what everyone ends up with is therefore obvious
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It's definitely expensive Pope & as I said we have had to make choices & sacrifices to be able to afford it. It's all about Lifestyle choices in many ways.

I'm sure there are more people about who could afford it if they wanted to go that way, but they have chosen to make different decisions on how they spend there money & it's each to their own. In an ideal world of course there would be no need for private medical insrance
 
seasider red said:
It's very frightening stuff isn't it, you certainly have to stand up for yourself in hospitals today or they just ignore you, it's the poor souls that can't do that Themselves & haven't got anyone to do it on their behalf. It really is getting like a third world service now. IMO the whole set up of the NHS needs stripping back & starting again from scratch, but don't suppose there are any politicians brave enough to tackle it.

All the best Southern with what you are about to go through hope all goes well
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That was my point, I said I’m vocal and won’t let you get away with it but what about the others?

Today.. I had a 10 min chat with senior nurse about how appalled she was it happened etc etc

Less than hour later they forgot my lunch completely so just said looks like I’m off to M&S (downstairs in the building!)

I get a sandwich etc sat eating it and surgeon comes round and says your blood sugars are erratic.. I said ask them and the meals they’ve forgotten..

He went mad , she then hovers about like a weird phantom… I’m done with it.. I’m calling out every shit thing from now on
 
Will.NFFC said:
It’s why I don’t buy into the bollocks about ‘protect our precious NHS’. It’s pedalled as some international beacon of free healthcare but the reality is you pay for it through your national insurance every month and it’s not fit for purpose and people lose their lives through negligence - many loved ones in my case. People say it’s underfunded and I’m sure that’s probably true in some functions, but the reality it’s run poorly. As mentioned above, rip it up and start again.
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Having worked with the nhs on contracts years ago… they waste money at an alarming rate on already obsolete tech against advice and there is a whole tier of middle management not required
 
Thing is though if you take away the huge issues… I’m talking about lazy staff not offering patients water or doing blood sugar’s monitoring… this is pretty basic shit

We got deployed with not enough armour plates etc but the level of our work never dropped, standards are maintained no matter what.
 
Southern red said:
That was my point, I said I’m vocal and won’t let you get away with it but what about the others?

Today.. I had a 10 min chat with senior nurse about how appalled she was it happened etc etc

Less than hour later they forgot my lunch completely so just said looks like I’m off to M&S (downstairs in the building!)

I get a sandwich etc sat eating it and surgeon comes round and says your blood sugars are erratic.. I said ask them and the meals they’ve forgotten..

He went mad , she then hovers about like a weird phantom… I’m done with it.. I’m calling out every shit thing from now on
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During my hospital stay a consultant told me he was concerned with my weight and advice me to put weight on. I asked him how he would suggest I do that as I can only eat the shit they're serve up in here three times a day. He didn't reply and walked away taking his student entourage with him.
 
Southern red said:
That was my point, I said I’m vocal and won’t let you get away with it but what about the others?

Today.. I had a 10 min chat with senior nurse about how appalled she was it happened etc etc

Less than hour later they forgot my lunch completely so just said looks like I’m off to M&S (downstairs in the building!)

I get a sandwich etc sat eating it and surgeon comes round and says your blood sugars are erratic.. I said ask them and the meals they’ve forgotten..

He went mad , she then hovers about like a weird phantom… I’m done with it.. I’m calling out every shit thing from now on
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Sounds familiar.
Forgotten meals, forgotten medication, 19 year old in charge just shrugging when told, the only time they got stuck in is when the McMillan nurse turned up, they were shit scared of her.
 
I totally agree with Pope on this one. I have recent first hand experience of "going private" just to beat the waiting lists. If everybody did it we would probably end up in the same boat as he says. It's a very nice earner for the consultants as it stands though, get diagnosed for some procedures at least, get a price and then, we'll take your pick, have it done or wait on the NHS. The problem is high demand, that won't go away whatever the system I'm afraid.
 
Pope John XXIII said:
It is the park hospital. A close family member worked there for years

It is exactly the same doctors and consultants who work in the NHS

And if you are in overnight and have any kind of emergency, good luck- because there was never any fucker there

That's why they didn't bother taking up the free private healthcare that came with the job at the time- they didn't trust the care in those circumstances
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I had 2 or 3 football knee injury operations in notts private 35 to 40 years ago ish

It was like staying in a hotel back then

Nice a la carte menus to choose meals from

Nice single rooms

Staff not overstretched

No idea what its like now

My only delay was waiting for the consultant/surgeon Mr Milligan (with his pink rolex watch) to come back from his annual 4 weeks August holiday away

I remember seeing on a bill 40 ish years ago a charge of £350 (which thankfully I didnt have to pay) for a 15 minute pre op consultation in his office in The Park
 
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