Jump to content

The NHS...is it that bad ?


alittlebitfrench
 Share

Recommended Posts

Queeny - there are always sad stories.

My father died in the UK in similar clinical circumstances when I was 1 year old. It also left my mother single with my 3 year old brother as well. Sh*t happens every day.

NHS is good but needs to be updated and not following the american, privatisation system.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 87
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

woolybanana wrote:

Companies will be lining up to take over the contracts, don’t worry. If

Carillion fail it will be because of competition being too tight. Other

companies in the same market have had the same problem.

Only shareholders, mainly your pension funds,will be screwed.

Well not according to a quote I heard on the news that supposedly one of their competitors said, something along the lines of, 'we don't need to take on their loss making contracts, if we wanted to we could write our own'. So without a huge sweetener from the government, i.e. taxpayers money I don't think anybody in their right mind will want to touch Carillion. Although Mr Branson may be interested he like being subsidized by the UK tax payer.

As regards to pension funds taking a hit, Carillion as it stands at the moment are the second most shorted company on the entire UK stock market, any pension fund with money invested in Carillion, is not a fund I would want my pension pot to be with.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Andy: she's paid French tax etc., and is French. She is, as the phrase on here goes, "in the system". She just doesn't have a mutuelle because she can't afford one, not least because with a pre-existing heart condition the monthly fees would be out with her means.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

She still apparently can't afford one. I'm not making this stuff up.

I'm merely saying that, whatever the reality, people become scared to seek treatment if there's a cost involved because when you're sitting there and being treated it's a bit late to consider whether or not you're going to be able to afford it. Of course,mid you're catered in as an emergency that's a different matter, but if you seek treatment or have it recommended and your first reaction is to have to consider the potential cost implications, however intelligent you are, you might just baulk at it. Have you ever watched Michael Moore's "Sicko"?
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think that you are justifying having a NHS type system.

However you are diverting from the simple issue of whether or not to pay for GP visits with provision for those who cannot pay. IMHO this can be incorporated into a NHS system similar to how the dental system operates.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Do you think making people pay up front will solve the problem though? When I was unwell in UK I spent weeks trying to convince myself that I didn't need to see a doctor, and then I had to go back several times because they didn't know what was wrong..That would have cost a fortune if I had to pay each time and wasn't really my fault. Point is, now I pay up front I don't go any less. The danger is you get plenty of visits from the worried well with money who probably don't need to see a doctor and people who probably should see a doctor just put it off because they don't want to bother anyone and then it becomes an emergency. I'm not against the idea of a small fee for a consultation but it certainly doesn't mean the doctors are less busy and you will be able to have a half hour consultation. Most likely outcome would be that you pay for the same overstretched service.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Kingy, you couldn't be more wrong. I'm absolutely not justifying having an NHS system (see my earlier post where I questioned why, if it's so marvellous, no other country in the world has adopted it). What I am saying is that merely by "making people pay" you're not going to sweep away all the problems which exist, and in fact you'll be creating other, new ones. Much as Lindal has just explained.

There is currently a two-tier system in the UK anyway: those who choose to pay via private insurance for treatment (or enjoy it as a work-related benefit) and those who rely solely on the NHS. For all the criticisms levelled at the NHS by those living elsewhere, the private care route is actually remarkably similar to the service provided in France to everyone. In France, however, you have no choice, which is all very egalitarian and what-have-you, but it forces people to pay quite often for something that they can't necessarily afford. At least with the NHS, nobody really falls off the end.

The NHS is a complete mess, but frankly that's down not just to lack of investment by the Tories, but a lack of foresight by successive governments who might have had a better grasp than the general population of exactly what would happen when the baby-boomers who fuelled the postwar economy all got old at the same time....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Linda

A payment system does not necessarily mean that every visit has to be paid for.

Our vet charges a €25 consultation fee. If the animal has to go bac several times that fee carries over and you only pay for additional treatments or medication.

In Germany if I visited a doctor I paid €10 and this carried over for the full quarter. If I had to see another doctor I got a transfer note (essentially a receipt) and paid nothing. The downside was that if you visited the doctor on the 30th March, the repeat visit a week later would cost you another €10 because it was in the new quarter, but I guess the perfect system has yet to be invented.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

But would it reduce demand, which seems to be what people are suggesting. As I said, I'm not necessarily opposed to it but I just can't see it would solve much, apart from add in another layer of administration.

I have and ALD and I saw my doctor 3 months ago and I paid up front. Maybe it will be different next time I go. The only thing I don't pay up front for is medication.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ended up in A & E last night, Saturday night!

Seen within a quarter of an hour, straight to X ray, seen by doctor, and prescription given all within three hours!

And that is fine for a Saturday night for something that more than warranted A&E but not mortel. Sure that there were people getting there with conditions that needed immediate treatment!
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Interestingly, last time I visited the Doc in France (to interpret for a friend...I was fine) she was a visitor from the UK and when she offered to pay they refused payment. Seemingly the paperwork involved was too much trouble versus the consultation fee.....
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I visited the "urgence" last week after being Bitten by a very large and angry French dog. The treatment was good and I had to pay as I left the building. No problems, I'll either claim it here or back home. I don't know who had to pay for the damage I did to the dog, but it wasn't or won't be me. LOL

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Can someone please tell me whether I am right in thinking that NickP could have claimed off the owner?

Only in theory mind as I am not sure how he could have made the owner pay up[:)]

After all, he couldn't very well have threatened to bite the dog back?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

He may not have wanted the hassle but L'assurance maladie love to get their teeth into someone who is both insured and responsable for the injury, the latter they dont really care much about as long as they have the former, mind you NickP would still be in a private ward having endless tests etc [:D]

 

All he need have done was to answer truthfully the 6 million dollar question that they always ask even if someone has committed hari-kiri, is a 3rd pary responsable for the injury and who are they?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Actually ALBF, it was a German Shepard Dog. So your attempt at humour is not appreciated. As a neighbour said: had the victim been a child or a woman the result might have been very different. As it happened the dog came off worse.

Interestingly the hospital gave me a form to give to the owner and he is obliged to take the dog to the Vets immediately, again in one week and in another month. I have no wish to involve my insurance or get involved in any litigation. I gave the form to our Mayor and he is dealing with it. He assured me that the owner would have to improve his methods of restraining his dog and that the animals vaccinations etc. are up to date

I told this storey to highlight the Health payment situation as I have found it in France. I know very little of the French health system but when called upon, it has delivered very satisfactorily, payment or claiming has never been a problem. In the UK I would like to see them charge anybody who doesn't show up at the doctors for their appointment.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes Idun, if I or any other UK resident pays a doctor or hospital in France, you ask for a Feuille de Soin you then can get the money back from the French CPAM, they, in turn, claim it from the UK. Or sometimes we've just claimed it back directly from the UK social services. Although I'm sure you know we only get the amount the French are entitled to. A few years ago while in France my wife unfortunately suffered peritonitis, she was admitted to a hospital, operated on and spent a week in the hospital. We finally got sent a bill for 100Euros one year after the event, turns out it was for meals and a few bits and pieces.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

For visits to a G P in France I always paid the 25 € to them and afterwards claimed that money and any payment for prescriptions from DWP Newcastle. Admitted to our local Fr. hospital as an emergency patient, I stayed overnight. I worried about how much this would cost. They (hospital) said they'd claim from my insurance I.e. DWP. A few months later I received a bill for €200.which I paid to French office but was able to claim most of that back from DWP.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share


×
×
  • Create New...