Where did all the money go

[tim123]

This may lead to people who are in desperate need not going, or others turning up in casualty.

Difficult one all round.

There should be a 20 quid fine for a no show or unnecesary home visit call.

Then poor people with genuinely sick kids will not call out the doctor when they should.

As you say, it is a difficult one to get right.

Even with "no shows" it's hard. I was a no show at a hospital because the wait was too long and the GP arranged for me to go privately. Then she forgot to cancel the NHS appointment and I got a snottly letter complaining that I didn't go.

tim

[bobhope]

Here, you get a bill which you pay and reclaim 90% or so on insurance. It's interesting to see how much things really cost - £20 for blood analysis, etc. Also, the prescription drugs are quite often cheaper than the £5 (is it still that?) prescription charge.

[Joe Black]

Charge people £10 to see their GP's - many people can claim it back etc but it focuses the mind on attending the appointment - this works well in France and reduces waste.

Don't know about that. Same system here in Belgium. Go to doctor, pay up front (probably around £10 as well from what I remember) and you get a chit where you can claim 75% back, more I believe if you're on the social. Didn't seem like the people there were that different from the conversations I could hear. Usual stuff, flu, pain in back, not sleeping etc.

Then again the couple of times I've been to a doctor here I must say, however it's funded, the treatment was A+, modern surgery and all the equipment, decent amount of time spent, and for the follow up I could more or less choose which hospital and which consultant I wanted, which again cost very little for a half hour including tests etc.

[The Lone Gunman]

I've thought for a long time that we should charge to see the Doctor, but make prescriptions free.

That way one thinks twice about going to the Doctors, but if you really need it then you get the medicine.

If you have aches and pains use Ibuprofen or Paracetemol first see if that deals with it.

Got the sniffles. No you have not got the flu you daft pilchard. When you can't move then you might have flu, otherwise go to the Chemist and get Lemsip.

Go to any Doctors and I'm sure the vast majority have no need of a Doctor. Doctors do not have the time to make a proper diagnosis and that means serious conditions are not being found. When my mother went to the Doctor with what turned out to be Cancer she was told she was overweight, the real reason was water accumalating around the cancerous growths. If the Doctor had time maybe he could have made a proper diagnosis and she may be alive now rather than having died at the age of 48.

This may lead to people who are in desperate need not going, or others turning up in casualty.

Difficult one all round.

There should be a 20 quid fine for a no show or unnecesary home visit call.

[zathras]

Charge people £10 to see their GP's

I've thought for a long time that we should charge to see the Doctor, but make prescriptions free.

That way one thinks twice about going to the Doctors, but if you really need it then you get the medicine.

If you have aches and pains use Ibuprofen or Paracetemol first see if that deals with it.

Got the sniffles. No you have not got the flu you daft pilchard. When you can't move then you might have flu, otherwise go to the Chemist and get Lemsip.

Go to any Doctors and I'm sure the vast majority have no need of a Doctor. Doctors do not have the time to make a proper diagnosis and that means serious conditions are not being found. When my mother went to the Doctor with what turned out to be Cancer she was told she was overweight, the real reason was water accumalating around the cancerous growths. If the Doctor had time maybe he could have made a proper diagnosis and she may be alive now rather than having died at the age of 48.

[lukemg]

It's a black hole, everything goes in, little comes out. Heard some analyst talking one time, said just this - people can't imagine the scale of the NHS, it is capable of absorbing 10x the current revenue and producing negligible improvements in return. Forget other countries 'spending more' their whole health care model is different and capable of responding to this spending.
1 - Charge people £10 to see their GP's - many people can claim it back etc but it focuses the mind on attending the appointment - this works well in France and reduces waste.
2 - Encourage those who can - to pay for private medicine. This isn't two-tier service, it reduces the burden on stretched resources while still providing the safety net. A thriving private sector, run on more efficient 'real-world' business principles also provides additional capacity that can be bought by the NHS (at probably cheaper cost than providing it themselves !)
3- Break the Consultant's strangle hold - see the Gerry Robinson docu ?
Consultants run the place as their own club/fiefdom and set the rules themselves, it's ridiculous.
HTH

[BoredBloke]

She made one point where previously in the NHS, under the Tories, if a hospital ran out of cash then operations would be cancelled and waiting times went up. Isn't that what we are facing now? Hospitals are being told to stop operations and are implementing a minimum waiting list.

She also said in the case of Radiographers (sp?) that there was a world wide shortage. The interviewer hit back stating that we have just trained loads of them but that the trusts can't afford to employ them.

PFI came in for a kicking also. 'Gordon Brown likes PFI because it makes him look prudent as it keeps the costs off the books.'

It's a shame that nobody saw it. That booking system which was supposed to cost a couple of billion but is now expected to cost £12,300,000,000 also got a hefty mention. A system which already can't cope and which only accounts for 35% of all the bookings at present.

[zathras]

Patricia Hewitt

or Patricia Blewitt!

Everytime that woman is on the telly I have a sudden urge to throw something at it. I have now had to ensure that no hard object is close to hand. Which means the wife gets the remote.

I still remember being asked who that thick woman was by one person who does not follow politics that much. Still what do you expect from the ex Research director for Andersons.

[threaded]

She claims that she meant whole of NHS on aggregate won't have deficit

The words 'Eel' and 'slippery' come to mind...

[AtW]

That 12 monthys runs out next month and loads are still in deficit.

She claims that she meant whole of NHS on aggregate won't have deficit - so those non-deficit hospitals still need to cut back and delay operations to ensure they get even higher proficit in order to keep her job.

I am sure she will succeed and get promotion because she would have done a great job.

[John Galt]

I watched it.

She needs a really really really good stabity stab stab stabbing...

Good idea - quick stabbitty stab - NHS hospital - MRSA - end of problem. And who says stabbing doesn't work

[BoredBloke]

Her comment was amazing. When asking her about this resignation thing she launched into a bit about this being a slur on all those hard working people in the NHS. She really is a truly horrible person - who could find it in themselves to vote for her?

[Mustang]

Didn't see the programme but it sounds like I should have done! I am sure Hewitt will weasle out of the resignation - she is NL after all!!

[BoredBloke]

Did anybody watch this last night on Ch4 - Gave NL a kicking at every opportunity. Also had Hewitt on to defend NL and the handling of the NHS. She promised that she would resign if trusts were in deficit in 12 months time. That 12 monthys runs out next month and loads are still in deficit.