Fund the NHS adequately

[ez8004]

So a poll suggests that the UK believes the NHS will collapse.

 

Many believe the mainstream belief that it is under-funded and that this is why it will collapse.

 

Personally I don't. I believe that it has the money it needs and more besides. However the majority of funds are being wasted.

 

• Unnecessary management posts
  
• Paying massively inflated prices for basic items
  
• Performing elective, unnecessary cosmetic surgeries
  
• Allowing NHS nurses to quit to become agency nurses at inflated wages. I've heard, from NHS nurses that agency staff are on upto £50 per HOUR depending on dept.
  

 

I have ideas on what needs to happen

 

1. Public review into all management positions to determine viability. Also within the inquiry review performance of all management personnel as with all management roles there will be those that are simply 'coasting'
    
   
2. Public publication of NHS spending down to the penny and review of purchasing rules
    
   
3. NHS patient ID cards. Issued only to UK citizens. Emergency treatment will still be provided without but ongoing and non-emergency treatment will be denied without payment/insurance to prevent health-tourism
    
   
4. Put GPs on clock-cards and ‘fine’ them for persistent lateness. Most GPs are great but from personal experience some are terrible. My current GP surgery (only on in village) the sole GP has appointments booked in from 8am however he regularly strolls in up 45 mins late.
    
   
5. Ban on employing agency nurses working for NHS if they've worked for the NHS directly within a certain number of years, say 3. If they quit the NHS and wish to rejoin with a direct position again then this can be done with no restriction.
   

 

 

Now I know people will disagree so let's hear your thoughts...

 

You have no idea what you are talking about. £50/hr for a specialist as a sub-contractor is NORMAL. The NHS will not for example need to make pension provision and redundancy payments for letting them go unlike permanent staff. If you normalised these benefits then your NHS employed nurses are effectively on the same wage. It doesn't really cost the NHS as much as your think and they have the flexibility of letting staff go if needed.

 

If you think £50/hr is a lot, then you need to have a wider look of the world.

[Anna B]

You have no idea what you are talking about. £50/hr for a specialist as a sub-contractor is NORMAL. The NHS will not for example need to make pension provision and redundancy payments for letting them go unlike permanent staff. If you normalised these benefits then your NHS employed nurses are effectively on the same wage. It doesn't really cost the NHS as much as your think and they have the flexibility of letting staff go if needed.

 

If you think £50/hr is a lot, then you need to have a wider look of the world.

If £50 an hour is not a lot in your opinion, then how do you feel about £60 a week for 24/7 care?

 

That is what carers get paid for looking after someone all day every day for whom they may have had to give up a well paid job. And believe you me, looking after someone with for example, dementia, is a very skilled, hard and soul destroying job.

[ez8004]

[/b]

If £50 an hour is not a lot in your opinion, then how do you feel about £60 a week for 24/7 care?

 

That is what carers get paid for looking after someone all day every day for whom they may have had to give up a well paid job. And believe you me, looking after someone with for example, dementia, is a very skilled, hard and soul destroying job.

 

So what are you arguing here? Too much money or not enough? Your post makes no sense in relation to mine.

[Anna B]

So what are you arguing here? Too much money or not enough? Your post makes no sense in relation to mine.

 

My point is it's all relative. £50 an hour is more than most earn so seems a lot. I think it's you who needs to take a wider look at the world..

 

A care home can charge upwards of £500 a week per person, but pays its hard working carers minimum wage. Nurses can command £50 an hour, but an auxilliary nurse only a fraction of that for equally arduous work. The world of work is full of inconsistency, and people are often not paid their worth. There is a considerable gap opening up between the well paid and the rest. Unfortunately the necessity / importance of the job is no guarantee of a decent wage. Nor are qualifications. I can point to any number of graduates (including science graduates) who are on low level salaries.

 

---------- Post added 04-07-2018 at 17:25 ----------

 

I can't - why would I have that information ?

Your statement 'the NHS treats the Spaniards but forgets to bill the Spanish Health Service for treatment given' is incorrect - where did you get this information from ? Please provide evidence.

 

---------- Post added 03-07-2018 at 17:41 ----------

 

My lovely Mum passed away quite recently and had been in a private residential EMI home for almost 8 years.

She was self funding for the first 7 years until her money ran out and the Council took over. The care home continued to care for Mum in the same loving way for the remainder of her life. Despite the fact that her needs were such at the end of of her life that she qualified for nursing care, we chose to let her remain in the residential home as we don't believe she could have had any better care than she was getting. She was always treated with the utmost dignity and respect.

My point is that not all care homes are bad. I believe there are far more good ones than bad - it's only the bad ones that we hear about.

 

Very pleased to hear your Mum had such a good experience.

 

I'm sure some care homes are excellent, but my own personal experience is that they are not all like that by a long chalk. A lot depends on the ethos of the home and the quality and dedication of the staff, and unfortunately you really only discover that, once your loved one is in place, in spite of all the attempts to find out beforehand.

 

It all seems a bit of a lottery, and it shouldn't be.

[jamesarthur]

the nhs is proberbly not underfunded but massively overmanaged,in the department I worked in for 45 years there was nearly 2 managers of some description to every man!!!this was the estates department,in the real world to deliver the same service in the private industry would take approx. 2!! and deliver a better service, this is reflected across the health service,with no exeptions,ive seen it all!! in every department,these people have the life of riley and most of the jobs are overlapped by the next person in a similar post.they are answerable to no one,its time for a real shake up,pay the people that do the real work,nurses,cleaners drivers,estate staff,catering,etc,a proper wage,there would be no shortage of staff, these keep the nhs going,not the paper clip counters and people sat behind doors with non discipt made up titles.try this one for size...THE PRIME MINISTERS FUNDING OFFICE!!! yes,this really does exsist along with many many others.

[El Cid]

I heard our NHS minister on radio four

 

"It's about helping them make better choices, giving them all the support we can, because we know taking the tough decisions is never easy,"

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-46093750

 

It seemed to me like a 'NHS prevention plan' that was just a load of waffle. The sugar tax may have helped, maybe more of that type of 'help'.

[Cyclone]

the nhs is proberbly not underfunded but massively overmanaged,in the department I worked in for 45 years there was nearly 2 managers of some description to every man!!!this was the estates department,in the real world to deliver the same service in the private industry would take approx. 2!! and deliver a better service, this is reflected across the health service,with no exeptions,ive seen it all!! in every department,these people have the life of riley and most of the jobs are overlapped by the next person in a similar post.they are answerable to no one,its time for a real shake up,pay the people that do the real work,nurses,cleaners drivers,estate staff,catering,etc,a proper wage,there would be no shortage of staff, these keep the nhs going,not the paper clip counters and people sat behind doors with non discipt made up titles.try this one for size...THE PRIME MINISTERS FUNDING OFFICE!!! yes,this really does exsist along with many many others.

 

Clearly not true if you look at the medical services. Nurses are not having "the life of riley", nor are doctors.

 

---------- Post added 06-11-2018 at 08:46 ----------

 

Of course you can’t prove that we are not reimbursed, nobody can because we aren’t. Taking Spain as an example, they have a charging based system for none resident users, the UK doesn’t even have a system to charge out, where’s the charging point in A&E? However I can tell you where it in a Spanish hospital, it’s at the reception point.

 

Actually it's quite easy to get hold of the figures.

 

https://fullfact.org/health/how-much-does-uk-recover-health-costs-eu/

[Anna B]

I've recently been an emergency admission to hospital, and I have to say the experience was not a good one. In fact to be honest it scared the pants off me.

 

The understaffing was all too evident. Buzzers were left unanswered, there were people crying out for help - also ignored. Pain relief seemed in short supply, as was general care and attention. I saw several mistakes being made (and nearly made) and some worrying incompetence. At times nobody with any authority seemed in charge. There were loud arguments between unhappy patients and staff, and 2 patients discharged themselves saying they would be better off at home.

 

Some of the younger staff seemed to resent being there, and some of the doctors were arrogant and unapproachable, you certainly couldn't ask them a question - you were lucky to get 10 seconds of their time.

 

I don't blame them, I blame the system. All the care and humanity seems to have been taken out of it. But it was obvious to me that lives are at risk..

 

On the plus side (and it's a big plus,) I went in very poorly, and got out alive, for which I am very grateful.

Edited November 6, 2018 by Anna B