Hello, I'm new to this forum and would like to contribute what I can to a discussion on what could be done to sustain it.
I think changes need to be made in order to sustain it, to avoid it's collapse and have lots of reasons to believe privatisation is not the answer for most people.
I don't really think it helps to just use this forum to complain about personal experiences unless it's to seek clarification, (e.g. what are our rights to confidentiality) or to suggest solutions we could accept.
My personal interest arises from the fact that even if the taxes used to fund the NHS were abolished I couldn't afford the health care I need. I DO need it, I couldn't treat my cancer on my own. For a private health company there's no profit in cancer treatment.
So I would like to see what other people think could help to sustain our NHS, which despite some flaws, is still rated as one of the best in the world.
One of my own thoughts is that there needs to be a better "relationship' between the service and the service users, rather than the " Us and Them" situation we appear to be in.
Despite any politics, it is still OUR NHS and I think both, more people need to take a positive interest in it AND the services do need to invite that interest. The latter, I believe "they" are doing.
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Thats an interesting Post. I can understand your concern and mine is much the same. It provides not only health care for the poorest in the community, but also employment to many . It is very hard to expect persons who have been brought up with such a service to now suddenly find it is only available in times of serious illness. Across the country there are many patient participation groups but some are poorly attended to give ideas to the powers that be as to how we might sustain NHS.We have to move forward and I feel much of the modern equiptment is expensive and poorly used or lacking staff to man it. One of the most cost saving areas would be cheaper correct diagnosis. i.e full blood screens detect a lot instead of individual persistant tests, scans produce better detail for those with illness even bone damage ect, more time to decide the least drugs to control chronic illness, being aware that some drugs cause the illness rather than cure it. Less expensive literature to inform patients on self management of lesser illness. If we must pay ways to spread the cost if unfortunate to become ill. Working together to maintain patient levels of care that reduce reoccurance of illness or side effects.Its a very emotive subject that as no one single answer.
I don't often contribute to A Call to Action, because, like you I find it's less a Call to Action and more often just a forum for various personal grumbles about levels of service received. So this is quite an interesting post.
I think it's clear that financially, the NHS isn't currently sustainable. So I'm not sure that parts of it shouldn't BE privatised. And that's not to say I mean we should lose our NHS. Rather that it can be much more efficient to buy in the services you need than to organise and run them in-house. All government departments are notoriously time and money wasting and the NHS is no exception. Recently I had a first class diagnosis and treatment from a private company which sells its services to the NHS and when I was finally discharged to primary care, the difference in efficiency and planning was really marked. Not the care I hasten to add, which was also really good.
I think we need to address the big time and money sucking issues in society that are draining the NHS, like unnecessary GP visits for trivia that could be dealt with elsewhere. Anyone who has watched a single episode of Channel 4's GP Surgery: Behind Closed Doors will probably be as shocked as me, (an oldie), at the average person's inability to cope with everyday minor ailments, which, for sure in a private health setting would never end up with a professional medical consultation.
We also need to address the epidemic in alcohol misuse and its draining effect on finances and staffing. Never mind the long-term health effects of the alcohol, even though that too is significant. I'm talking about the misuse of emergency services, the beds taken up in A&E and the abuse and violence visited on NHS staff by drunken patients.
Similarly something needs to be done urgently to curb the excessive misuse of ambulances for various reasons. That's impacting on some really seriously ill and injured people and is again draining NHS budgets.
Lastly I'll mention the elderly and what's come to be known as bed-blocking. For sure many people would probably make that the number one thing in need of reform, but actually I believe that, although reform in the entire care of the elderly is needed, it should not be used as the whipping-boy for all the NHS's ills that pertains at the moment.
Of course efforts should continue with preventative measures, but to be honest I do wonder exactly how effective current anti-smoking and anti-obesity measures really are. People are very resistant to change, and for these to be more effective, definitely much more money and energy would need to be expended to find out how to more effectively persuade people to make lifestyle changes.
Clearly there is no one answer to improving what is a wonderful institution, but one which was developed for a completely different community to the one we have now. It needs a radical overhaul in addition to extra funding, before its stretching becomes a real break that cannot be repaired.
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I quite agree with much of what you say and agree there is no single one answer.
I'm not against private health providers being paid for treating NHS patients in principle especially where NHS trusts can't cope with the demand on them. I am aware however that some would argue this diverts funding away from the trusts and reduces their capacity further.
The bed-blocking phenomenon particularly reflects the discontinuity between secondary health care and social care and suggest that the NHS cannot be sustained without also attending to the social care sector as well.
Unfortunately there is a strong socio-political flavour to all this. As an older, (ex health care professional) I have seen successive governments battling ( to varying degrees) with inequalities in health. My feeling is that the battle is fundamentally un-winnable!
I also believe that some aspects of health have strong cultural elements to them. Such cultures don't change easily or quickly. I fear some of the changes in peoples perceptions and expectations I've seen in my lifetime do not bode well. Inevitably, in cases where health services are putting funding into preventing some health issues and other sectors of society are putting funding into things which help create those health issues e.g. Anorexia, things won't change.
My attitude is that you can only do what you can do and if you can make some difference then you should do something. Not to give up because it appears overwhelming.
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Absolutely agree!
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