General Chat

esta i agree.n.h.s. treatment should remain free to those entitled to it. a&e will allways be packed, when it takes a week to get an appoinment to see your g.p. and yes, if you are lucky enough to be working these days, cameron and co will make those employed pay health insurance, a lot of things within the n.h.s are allready privatised, they will just keep chipping away untill the n.h.s. is dead.

I'm sorry but it's the thin end of the wedge. next it will be a nominal charge for an x-ray or blood test and before long you'll need private health insurance to cover every stay.

Having had an adult daughter in hospital for an 8 week stay I would not be happy for her to pay for the slop served up as food. Additionally having spent every day at the hospital the level of waste of drugs, dressings, tests etc and having watched staff ignore patients urgent requests for toilets etc I wouldn't pay.

Several good comments being posted, I especially like RolloTheRed's one of an insurance based system.

I for one, and many other people I know/knew, would always have been happy during our working lives to pay higher N.I. contributions providing the money was used soley for the NHS and not siphoned off for other purposes.

The meals are terrible, horrible and the quantities served a joke. On top they won't let you bring food in from outside. If they want to start charging for food then it had better be something worth paying for or allow the patient to make other arrangements.

My OH was in for a fairly major op. and using a private hosp. was not an option 'cos of the complex surgery. She hated the food so much that she discharged herself early. Pay for the food ? You have to be kidding. The surgery itself was excellent.

The NHS is ( or was ) based the idea of universal health care financed from general taxation. The increasing tendency to look for other revenue sources will simply push the line to the point where it breaks down as a more or less universal health care provider in the UK.

The alternative approach is an insurance based system and non-state providers as in most countries.

It would be impossible to administer the indidual charges within the NHS, we all know just how many hands in different departments paperwork passes through. Think of the cost? plus a few Managers appointed in every hospital too and an extra finance director etc.,

A basic charge of £5.00 to £7.00 per 24 hour stay would be easier to enforce and isn't too hefty for those of working age.

Stop all health tourism (and it does happen before anyone says it doesn't).

Stop the waste within the NHS, giving crutches out in A & E never to be seen again, they could be loaned with a deposit or bought.

Do NOT dispense expensive drugs when generic brands are exactly the same.

As I said on here when I went for my pre op a couple of months ago and was given a brand new piece of kit which I asked to keep and was told yes, cos we throw them away after single use. Prior it was one unit per clinic room with a new sealed disposible mouthpiece, more waste!

Make those that call for an ambulance due to drink and drugs pay (we had that discussion on GR a couple of times).

Remove all paper towels dispensers from hospital toilets and install hot air driers, how many times have you attempted to pull one sheet and ended up with a couple of dozen!

Charge for missed clinic appointments, a huge fee of £100.00 should make selfish patients think twice before 'couldn't be bothered' kicked in. Obviously there has to be allowances for genuine reasons.

Allow visitors to buy a drink during the trolley round, it's income isn't it? and plastic cups for them are cheap enough.

I could go on and on (as you know..lol) but something has to be done BUT the NHS has to look to it's own wastage at the same time.

Sue

JoyLouise, That could also apply to nursing staff supplied by agencies,They cost a Bomb.

I think that that some government will have to consider slightly increasing our tax bills and earmark the money purely for the NHS. Perhaps they could begin with bringing in all outsourced services which would mean nobody profiting from outsourced stuff.

I would not like to see someone born with a serious condition have to be penalised as they grow by being unable to pay for health treatment and I can see a situation where that could happen if privatisation of NHS services took off in a big way.

Let's hope they don't begin to outsource hospital meals because the provider will want to make a profit for its directors/shareholders. Yet again the NHS will have to find the funds from somewhere and rather than it be at the expense of those highly-paid admin people I think it will be at the expense of nursing staff.

It stands to reason that any work outsourced (cleaning etc) is going to cost the NHS more because someone, somewhere will make a tidy profit out of it. In addition to this, the heads of wards (used to be matrons, don't know what they're called now) won't have the same degree of control if anything goes wrong.

Regarding paying for meals,I think that the Patients should be paid for eating them,from what I,ve seen of them they are revolting. As Kitty says too many people go to A&E with trivial problems thus wasting the time of the staff and increasing waiting times.Private Health insurance is Expensive, around £6.000.per year.But it does not have A&E at private hospitals so you tend to use NHS for emergencies.However as you pay into it also its not unreasonable to be able to use it. there are lots of things which should be charged for which are perfomed under the NHS which do not come under the Health of the person concerned i/e face lifts, boob jobs (Unless after operation to remove them) Lipo Suction,removal of tattoos and others.Plus of course ensuring that Health Tourists Pay Their Bills.(Upfront )as in other Countries.**M**.

Ann, Pensioners used to lose their pension after 6 weeks in hospital but now they keep it regardless of the length of there stay

Roy

But if you go into hospital and are on a state pension I believe you lose your pension for the time you spend in hospital. If they start to charge for meals I trust they will then refund part of the pension to pay for it. Or not charge pensioners who have already handed over their money?

I think patients should have to pay for meals, if you were at home you would still have to pay for your food.

People arriving from other countries should also be made to pay up front for any treatment.

Perhaps we should have a NHS lottery (with limited wins) and all profit being reinvested in more staff and equipment.

Carol

It might help if less people went to A&E instead of going to their GP first.

Then again, it is so difficult to get an urgent appointment with our GPs that sometimes it is the only option available if extreme pain is present:(

I sat in A&E recently,with my very ill daughter who was seen by her GP who sent her there and watched a family come in with a teenager who had fallen over 3 days previously, walked with hardly a limp, and had not been to the GP as "we were coming to town shopping so thought we would get him checked out here."

This time wasting of our A&E resources is all too common according to the staff who work there, but they all have to be seen.

If my daughter could afford private health insurance she would use it without hesitation.

It has been reported that "The NHS Confederation" which represents all Health Service trusts, discussed these ways of generating extra funds.

It says any fees would apply to everyone over 18 who has basic health insurance, around 90 per cent of the population.

Patients could be charged £8.50 to call an out-of-hours doctor to their home under controversial plans outlined today.

The sick could also be forced to pay for their hospital meals or increased charges to watch television on NHS wards.

The proposals are being floated as a way of tackling the ‘unprecedented financial dilemma’ faced by the Health Service.

This article in regards to funding the NHS makes me ask three questions and they are:-

1) Would this be the start on a slippery road to making everyone pay whether or not they had private insurance?

2) Shouldn't we charge, for example, for treatment required as a result of alcohol or illegal drugs?

3) Would it not be a good idea to have a central database of all people who have private health insurance which would be accessible to NHS hospitals enabling them to reclaim the costs of any treatment a persons insurance covered, from the insurance companies?

In respect of (3) obviously there would have to be exceptions such as emergency life and death situations.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2294986/NHS-talks-8-50-charge-doctor-hospital-patients-forced-pay-meals.html