Ditch the NHS for private health care

[mj.scuba]

Is it time we ditched the NHS in favour of a private health care system, taking parts of health care systems seen in Europe and the US?

 

It's often difficult to have a proper discussion about the future of our national health care because of the Golden Calf mentality that permeates the public sector, the NHS in particular, and the Unions.

 

But lets be honest, it's nowhere near perfect and often falls short of what we might expect of a modern health service.

 

If we had the private sector replace the NHS, competing companies would strive to provide better services and provide them at competative prices to win customers. They would have to meet the service expectations of its customers, or it customers will look elsewhere. The tax burden on Joe Public should go down, then it is your choice whether to spend that extra money in your pocket on fags and booze, or on health insurance.

[Alex C.]

Just remember that the highest per-capita government healthcare spending in the world is in the USA (and this is since long before Obama was around) - so just because it's private, doesn't make it more efficient, and certainly doesn't make it cheaper.

 

I'm not in favour of privatisation.

 

I am in favour of bringing in successful business managers (for example, Stuart Rose) to take a look at the system from a wastage point of view, and try and make it more efficient.

[Kthebean]

I dont think so, only because I like the fact that care workers and other people on low incomes (who might still work very hard) get the same level of care as someone who earns more. Some might think its a shoddy level of care, but my own experiences with the NHS have only been good, so I dont know.

[mj.scuba]

I often hear politicians say this, but have never heard them explain what they mean - could you?

 

Yes, my partner is currently going through the NHS complaints process because they let her down, badly.

[mj.scuba]

Not that - i mean what do you expect from a modern health service that you wouldn't expect from an older health service.

 

I would assume you have a valid reason to use it, but whenever a politician uses it i am convinced that they themselves don't actually know what they mean, especially since in many businesses and contexts "modern" means "more managers"

 

I'd expect what happened to my OH to have not happened for a start and would have preferred not to have any reason to complain. I won't go into detail because I don't want it to jepordise her complaint, needless to say though that it is a serious complaint and she received a total lack of care.

[decaff]

The NHS, the police force and every other public authority/organisation needs to be modernised and streamlined.

 

Get rid of all the red tape and corporate nonsense and allow the authorities to do fulfill their roles properly. It is the red tape which wastes the money. We don't need more money, we need to stop wasting the money we have!

 

I don't think we need to privatise the nhs but i do think we need to sort it out and STOP WASTING MONEY.

[Alex C.]

I'd expect what happened to my OH to have not happened for a start and would have preferred not to have any reason to complain.

 

That's not to do with it being more modern though - that's just a complaint - all companies and organisations can do things which make complaints neccesary, old fashioned or ultra modern.

 

Modernisation is about changing working practises and services to make them more relevant.

 

for instance, opening up operating theatres at a weekend to get more return on the investment of building them, or allowing people to register at any doctors surgery, and do away with 'catchment areas'.

[mogwai84]

The NHS, the police force and every other public authority/organisation needs to be modernised and streamlined.

 

Get rid of all the red tape and corporate nonsense and allow the authorities to do fulfill their roles properly. It is the red tape which wastes the money. We don't need more money, we need to stop wasting the money we have!

 

I don't think we need to privatise the nhs but i do think we need to sort it out and STOP WASTING MONEY.

 

what red tape and corporate nonsense would you get rid of? It's easy to say things like "red tape", "bureaucracy" etc... but what do you actually mean?

[mj.scuba]

I used modern as a generic term meaning what we expect of todays health service.

[Alien]

Yes, my partner is currently going through the NHS complaints process because they let her down, badly.

 

Maybe you should have started a thread about your particular case rather than lumping it in with the rest of the system. Public or private is never perfect.

 

It seems in all the years I've used the health service poor service seems to have bypassed me, except for once...terrible state of affairs.

 

Just because you pay for it privately, doesn't make it a better service.