This Farage Immigrants with HIV Business

[xoggoth]

The NHS in the UK is pretty crap. Other countries with better cheaper systems do have some charging. There's a good comparison of a whole range of state services in the DT today: We come out ok on some things, poor on others including health.

Let’s stop pretending Britain is top of the world - Telegraph

[FatLazyContractor]

PS. Any IT contractor who relies on the NHS is an idiot. If you have a long term condition the waiting around and ineffiency will mean you won't be able to hold down a contract. I would say having private insurance as a contractor is a MUST.

^ This

[Euler]

The NHS in the UK is pretty crap.

Well we finally agree on something.

[Euler]

As a self-employed person, I pay a fair old whack each month (and I had to drop a couple of items to get in below €700 per month) )

That sounds like a big sum, but presumably you're also on a big whack. It was the same in Switzerland, when I worked there.
The average Joe in Germany seems to be happier and get a better service than here, though.
Plus you know where your money is going - with the centralised tax system here the rich pay their thousands of pounds to fund pointless wars in Iraq.

[BlasterBates]

I think comparing the German and US health systems is bogus.
I would advocate the German not the US system.
Germans are not overburdened with healthcare costs and their systems works efficiently.
It's a public-private partnership.
Yes the NHS is cheap but you get what you pay for: huge waiting lists, inability to see a GP and the worst outcomes for cancer survival in the developed world.
You sound like you've not been ill much, neither have I, but my experience with an elderly relative (MIL) with dementia in the NHS tells me the system is broken.

PS. Any IT contractor who relies on the NHS is an idiot. If you have a long term condition the waiting around and ineffiency will mean you won't be able to hold down a contract. I would say having private insurance as a contractor is a MUST.

The German private health insurance, if you have a family, is very expensive. You'd need a pretty hefty war chest to weather it.

If you setup a public health insurance where the state picks up the tab you effectively have the NHS and huge costs changing the system to be like the German system.

A public health system moving to the German system of public health is the same. There will still be the same problems. Those who "opt out" get a better service and pay through the nose.

The idea that there is some cheap system somewhere where you get a fantastic service doesn't exist.

This changing the system to be like Germany as Nigel Farage suggests is a complete non-starter, it would just be moving problems around, but not solving anything.

[DodgyAgent]

The same old resistance to change is embedded in the attitudes of so many. Even contractors who should know better from experience are drawn into it. The same tired old negative cliches are rolled out "They wont do business with us".
I never forget the IT contractor at one of the big retailers who built a proprietary system for a key part of their business and then maintained it and built enhancements over a period of 10 years. he was able to write his own rate and would refuse to cooperate with changing and redeveloping it or training others (no one wanted to work on it because he was a dick)

Then one day a new IT director came in and within two months got rid of him. Instead of the business crashing around they managed to get by with a couple of months of chaos and then forged ahead and built a better and more reliable system.

[Euler]

The German private health insurance, if you have a family, is very expensive. You'd need a pretty hefty war chest to weather it.

If you setup a public health insurance where the state picks up the tab you effectively have the NHS and huge costs changing the system to be like the German system.

A public health system moving to the German system of public health is the same. There will still be the same problems. Those who "opt out" get a better service and pay through the nose.

The idea that there is some cheap system somewhere where you get a fantastic service doesn't exist.

This changing the system to be like Germany as Nigel Farage suggests is a complete non-starter, it would just be moving problems around, but not solving anything.

You've clealry never used the NHS.
You'll change your tune when you have to, god forbid.

[BlasterBates]

Of what use is a system when you have to wait till you die for an appointment?

NHS is the biggest disgrace of this country. Social medicine is a complete and utter failure.

You can use supplementary insurance such as BUPA.

You're still covered by the NHS for emergencies but you can use BUPA to get doctors appointments. BUPA is a lot cheaper than a health insurance not backed up by the NHS.

This is probably more feasible than spending a few decades campaigning for a complete overhaul of the NHS.

[FatLazyContractor]

The same old resistance to change is embedded in the attitudes of so many. Even contractors who should know better from experience are drawn into it. The same tired old negative cliches are rolled out "They wont do business with us".
I never forget the IT contractor at one of the big retailers who built a proprietary system for a key part of their business and then maintained it and built enhancements over a period of 10 years. he was able to write his own rate and would refuse to cooperate with changing and redeveloping it or training others (no one wanted to work on it because he was a dick)

Then one day a new IT director came in and within two months got rid of him. Instead of the business crashing around they managed to get by with a couple of months of chaos and then forged ahead and built a better and more reliable system.

Absolutely! On that positive note, we all hope that the Client-Pimp-Contractor model soon gets replaced by the Client-Contractor_direct model.

[BlasterBates]

Absolutely! On that positive note, we all hope that the Client-Pimp-Contractor model soon gets replaced by the Client-Contractor_direct model.