NHS could save billions replacing paper with really expensive machines....

[minestrone]

Unfortunately a medical degree also doesn't equal common sense.

<I have a whinge, too>
About a year and a half ago my other half was "diagnosed" with high blood pressure (solely based on two readings), no other physical indications or symptoms. Funnily enough he only ever had high blood pressure at the doctor's office, not when measured at the gym. But it was a stressful time in his life so he accepted that maybe there was something to it. They ran various tests and there were never any physical causes found for the alleged high blood pressure - he was in excellent shape. They put him on meds and as all this co-incided with our house-purchase, this messed up his chances of getting Critical Illness cover. Great. Anyway, he's been on the meds ever since and more recently started feeling faint and actually fainting on several occasions, along with other textbook symptoms of low blood pressure. Went to the doctor, blood pressure taken, reading was high again. Doctor wants to prescribe a higher dose of the meds, not interested in his actual symptoms. OH asks about White Coat Hypertension - doctor ignores it. He goes home, borrows blood pressure monitor from neighbour and starts recording his own readings -all ranging between low and perfect. Back to the doctor with said readings - "Oh I'm glad you did that, I'd have upped your meds and that would have been pretty dangerous *insert girly giggle*". So finally she admitted it must be White Coat Hypertension, after over a year on the meds (now off them entirely) and after this misdiagnosis preventing him from getting insurance. So from the start there was nothing wrong with him, but because they went by nothing other than the reading and completely ignored the symptoms and other explanations, he's had to go through all this hassle and it's consequences.

Yeah, I don't have a whole lot of faith in GPs. Some may be good, but some are really a bit on the ignorant side.
So I'm not surprised people come along with Google diagnoses.

</whinge>

Whatever you say Gentile.

[Robinho]

Fine, because I quite like the idea that someone who can't afford the huge premiums I pay for health insurance gets treated nonetheless because I consider his life to be just as valuable as my own.

Then donate money to charity.

Edit: Actually that's not a bad idea, the gov could let other companies fairly compete with the NHS, and when it gets adequately small, sell it off as a charity.

[Mich the Tester]

Then donate money to charity.

I do, but too many people don't.

[Robinho]

I do, but too many people don't.

And that justifies theft?

One would hope that if the government didn't forcefully tax and spend our money people would be a bit more willing to donate, both because they have more money and also because their would be more need.

[formant]

Whatever you say Gentile.

You actually still think I'm Gentile?

Goodness that gal must've left an impression around here. I regret I wasn't around then to witness that.

I still know f-all about .NET, btw.

[Mich the Tester]

And that justifies theft?

Yes I'm sure you are confused; the moral justification for tax and public healthcare is a bit more complex than a simple and fallacious theft-charity dichotomy that defines tax as theft.

[formant]

...because nobody will agree what they want the interface to do and what data they want to hold. Everyone has different and conflicting requirements and since the NHS is a deluded pseudo democracy, finding leadership capable of making and implementing decisions is all but impossible.

Actually, it's also because with the payment by results system introduced in 2004, trusts are essentially in competition with each other. They don't want their data out there for fear it'll make them less competitive.

(Current ClientCo amongst many many other things also does clinical coding software and is involved in digitising NHS medical records, pathways, etc. trust by trust to at least in theory make the data available. In practice, what I said there as well as a number of other factors would still mean that this data will not actually be shared.)

[Robinho]

Yes I'm sure you are confused; the moral justification for tax and public healthcare is a bit more complex than a simple and fallacious theft-charity dichotomy that defines tax as theft.

No it isn't. Healthcare is a commodity, just like a car, an ipad, or food.

[bobspud]

I still know f-all about .NET, btw.

Neither did she

[formant]

Neither did she

How's she with Python, Perl and Regular Expressions? Any degrees in Linguistics by any chance? Would love to find someone to subcontract to. Would really help me with going LTD and add substitution clauses to my contracts.