Medical Help

[WhiteAlice]

I've noticed something whil reading the many posts. Your healthcare system seems a bit slow. Am I right? The last administration and others recently running for election here have pushed for a socialized system. It seems like you have even more road blocks to healthcare than we have. I thought our system was getting bad. If I may ask, how many of you find that delays in getting much needed help have added to your MH issues?

[Reposting1]

Dear whiteAlice

What brought this to your attention

[WhiteAlice in reply to Reposting1]

I'm in the US. It seems on this site that I'm seeing there are delays for people trying to get help. And oh, yes, healthcare here is a big, lucrative business. It can get very expensive trying to get help here. I'm wondering if either system is contributing to patients' anxiety.

[Reposting1]

Dear WhiteAlice

I presume from your comment that you are in fact a Scottish site and that you are addressing UK members

58 Wilfred58

[Biggles22]

Sounds like you are in USA. A country where money seems to be at the root of all healthcare.

[Reposting1]

Does this mean I'm a sasinac. ( sorry , must be swinging toward manic )

58wilfred58

[Hidden]

WhiteAlice it sounds like you are in the US? The NHS are unfortunately pushed to their limits. The problem I've always had is long waiting times or appointments which are close to home, mid afternoon and miles from work so couldn't have weekly appointments having so much time off work. I have private health care insurance with work so I now use that. It is how I managed to get my recent diagnosis at last. NHS said I was no way bipolar.

[Hidden]

WhiteAlice, I'm an American expat in England and have been living here for 30 years. When I was in the USA way back in '86, the health care system was great.

The NHS has been marvelous here in my neck of the woods (Hampshire), and when I go back twice a year to visit family and found I needed a shot, I went to my mother's doctor and had to pay $200 to be a new patient. Unbelievable. I thought that would extend for years - (no, just for two)

Plus, if you have a chronic disease here, all your prescriptions are free. If, say, you're a diabetic in America, one has to pay extraordinary prices for insulin, etc., just to stay alive. America is one of the few countries where drug prices are not regulated. It amounts to greed and profit and I have no idea what is going to happen now with a billionaire in The White House.

70% of the people in England are solely on NHS - I DO have PPP (private patient plan) if I need an imminent operation.

Truth be told, I will always vote for a socialized system. (personal opinion)

[Hidden]

P.S. Just realized this is the depression forum, and yes I agree that if you have to wait long periods of time to address a doctor for anxiety/depression, it of course would go hand-hand with added emotions of overwhelming frustration and despair. Shouldn't have to be this way.

Now I'll kick myself off the page for being a rambling Rose.

[Hidden]

Hi our NHS is mainly in the state it is now because of the underfunding of it. It didn't used to be like this years ago. I am still a firm believer in socialised medicine as at least everyone can get the treatment and the meds they need whether or not they are rich or poor. The NHS is free (and always has been) at the point of delivery.

I heard some dreadful stories from your country men/women - some for example who have been prescribed oxygen (I suffer from lung disease too) and can't afford it so have to do without, or being prescribed certain drugs and their insurance companies refusing to pay for it.

I also know emergencies are always treated but not the follow up care. Lots can't afford the meds they need to keep them alive and healthy. I would hate that here.

I saw a programme once where all these very poor people who couldn't afford any treatment were waiting (kids too) most of the night as a group of doctors were offering free treatment as a charity. There were some awful stories such as a man who was on the verge of a strangulated hernia which could kill him one day. He was told it was urgent to get it operated on. He checked and it would have cost $20,000 which he didn't have of course.

So all in all I am very grateful, despite all it's problems, to have the NHS. x

[Hidden]

Yes I will answer your question about mental health too. Long delays in getting NHS counselling do contribute to depression etc. as well. In my area they are now rationing it and even though an NHS counsellor (seen for an assessment) has told me I have moderate depression I have been refused counselling. The only option I have now is to pay for it which I can't afford. This is despite my ongoing suicidal thoughts. x

[WhiteAlice]

Thank you for letting me know. Healthcare is so important and I see it so mismanaged over here. Anymore I avoid seeing the doctor. It's an insurance nightmare and patients are rushed in & out often without having their conditons solved.

[Biggles22]

Those with mental health problems are often those with least money and least ability to use any system well and so in the USA will I expect fare much worse than in the uk.

The various websites offering hope for mental health problems are usually American and always involve payment. Health is an industry in the USA geared at earning money, but I feel it has more heart in the uk.

[WhiteAlice]

I agree with you completely! Yet the UK system is overburdened and slow. Why can't the guys in charge just get it right & help people who need help?? Surely there is a middle road that would work. It is frustrating.

[Biggles22 in reply to WhiteAlice]

Patient demand exceeds resources available, so they try and sort out the best they can for as many as possibly on the basis if perceived need, effectiveness of treatment, availability of treatment etc.

In a free at the point of delivery service there are no constraints on patient wants

[Biggles22]

The facts are clear – six out of ten Americans living with serious mental illness have no access to mental health care at all," the National Association on Mental Illness wrote in a report last year.

[WhiteAlice in reply to Biggles22]

Reform is desparately needed.