Because they are, that’s the only way to keep it sustainable.
The state of the NHS right now means I’m considering whether private is worth it tbh.
I don’t think that is wrong in some cases.
No way should the NHS be funding boob jobs, or correcting stuff where people have got to say, Turkey for some cosmetic surgery and the NHS has to clean up after it.
And obvious health tourism too needs charging.
We already pay for it, they just want us to pay more
People are very naive about healthcare privatisation, because they think that some future government is going to come in and make it cost £200 to see the GP and ten grand for a new hip. The problem is that the goals of privatisation have already been achieved, we already have a two tier system. The NHS will always treat you, but it’s going to take 2+ years on a waiting list. You can skip that, see the same doctor, go to the same operating room, all you need to do is pay.
I don’t think that the NHS will ever be explicitly privatised, I don’t think we’ll ever directly pay for it. But I know that the two tier system will expand until it’s 5 years for every waiting list and having private healthcare coverage is the only way to live. Then private care will get terrible.
Every other western European country has a mixture of state and insurance-based provision, and all of these systems are better than the UK’s. There is a reason no one has copied the NHS model – it’s outdated and very clunky. The UK and US are both extreme outliers and neither is really suited to this century. (In this US, they had full employment in the 1940s so it made complete sense to link healthcare to employment.)
I would happily pay £20 to go to the GP, or to pay a refundable deposit for it, because no-shows cost the NHS a fortune in themselves. Just as with prescription charges, it makes sense to give free appointments to those who actually need them.
I mean considering the malingerers and waste of timers in A&E it’s probably warranted to have some level of charging. True it won’t raise revenue as the admin will cost more, but it might discourage those people from wasting time.
We already have to pay for subsidised dental treatment, so I can absolutely see some other treatments going the same way. Perhaps some minor or non-life threatening conditions such as having things corrected, bones set back correctly, skin issues sorted etc. I imagine that they will be free for children and people on benefits, retirees and so on, but everyone else would pay a ‘band’ cost for whichever band your surgery or procedure falls in.
And on top of that I expect that it will be nigh-on impossible to find a subsidised NHS centre with space on the books to sort of these issues for you, so you’ll have to pay to go private anyway. People who can stretch their cash enough are already paying for mental health support and elective surgeries where the NHS would otherwise put you on a 4-5 year waiting list.
It would be an absolute travesty and definitely have a negative effect on the nation’s collective health.
9 comments
Because they are, that’s the only way to keep it sustainable.
The state of the NHS right now means I’m considering whether private is worth it tbh.
I don’t think that is wrong in some cases.
No way should the NHS be funding boob jobs, or correcting stuff where people have got to say, Turkey for some cosmetic surgery and the NHS has to clean up after it.
And obvious health tourism too needs charging.
We already pay for it, they just want us to pay more
People are very naive about healthcare privatisation, because they think that some future government is going to come in and make it cost £200 to see the GP and ten grand for a new hip. The problem is that the goals of privatisation have already been achieved, we already have a two tier system. The NHS will always treat you, but it’s going to take 2+ years on a waiting list. You can skip that, see the same doctor, go to the same operating room, all you need to do is pay.
I don’t think that the NHS will ever be explicitly privatised, I don’t think we’ll ever directly pay for it. But I know that the two tier system will expand until it’s 5 years for every waiting list and having private healthcare coverage is the only way to live. Then private care will get terrible.
Every other western European country has a mixture of state and insurance-based provision, and all of these systems are better than the UK’s. There is a reason no one has copied the NHS model – it’s outdated and very clunky. The UK and US are both extreme outliers and neither is really suited to this century. (In this US, they had full employment in the 1940s so it made complete sense to link healthcare to employment.)
I would happily pay £20 to go to the GP, or to pay a refundable deposit for it, because no-shows cost the NHS a fortune in themselves. Just as with prescription charges, it makes sense to give free appointments to those who actually need them.
I mean considering the malingerers and waste of timers in A&E it’s probably warranted to have some level of charging. True it won’t raise revenue as the admin will cost more, but it might discourage those people from wasting time.
How would something like [this](https://www.gov.gg/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=113643&p=0) make you feel when you walk into A&E?
We already have to pay for subsidised dental treatment, so I can absolutely see some other treatments going the same way. Perhaps some minor or non-life threatening conditions such as having things corrected, bones set back correctly, skin issues sorted etc. I imagine that they will be free for children and people on benefits, retirees and so on, but everyone else would pay a ‘band’ cost for whichever band your surgery or procedure falls in.
And on top of that I expect that it will be nigh-on impossible to find a subsidised NHS centre with space on the books to sort of these issues for you, so you’ll have to pay to go private anyway. People who can stretch their cash enough are already paying for mental health support and elective surgeries where the NHS would otherwise put you on a 4-5 year waiting list.
It would be an absolute travesty and definitely have a negative effect on the nation’s collective health.