Recommendation, not totally irrelevant to us!

[Rachael47]

We've just been to see Mark Thomas in 'Check up: the NHS at 70'. He has done deep research, including shadowing Doctors in A&E, talking to Health Secretaries and top health professionals' He made the point that our NHS is only mediocre against othe countries with similar systems, and gave the statistics. We are well down the list for cancer recovery - he mentioned ovarian but I have forgotten the figure in self defence. If you get a chance to see it do, it's an eye-opener.

[Lyndy]

I am not surprised- I think it is accepted that we lag behind in cancer treatment and survival rates BUT I am very reluctant to criticise the NHS. It may be creaking but it is free at the point of delivery and there are so many wonderful people who do their utmost in difficult circumstances. I for one wouldn’t want to be wondering if my insurance was going to cover everything I needed. Not to say we shouldn’t agitate for better funding and equipment to help us all live life to the full xx

[Rachael47 in reply to Lyndy]

I probably expressed that badly - Mark is a huge fan of the NHS, but deplores what he sees as its deliberate destruction. Apparently when Andrew Lansley proposed the law which allowed private companies to bid for contracts, and made the NHS do the same, his 'model' was the privatisation of water, gas and electricity under Margaret Thatcher. The bidding process costs the NHS about 2 billion annually.

[Lyndy in reply to Rachael47]

Ahh! Sorry I didn’t pick that up xx

[delia2]

Hi. I'm in the U.S. but have lived in London for two years, one of them 2016-17. Our health systems are SO different they are hard to compare. In the US you can get the best health care in the world if you have money, excellent insurance, and you live in a metropolitan area. I lived in a rural area until last summer when I retired from university teaching and I had been trying to get a colonoscopy for a year. It was cancelled three times because of a shortage of specialists. With cancer you might be dealing with massive copays and deductibles depending on your insurance. I am fortunate to have been on Medicare when I got diagnosed last year and to have private supplementary insurance so I don't pay anything. Nonetheless I am dealing with at least a hundred billing statements (hospitals, radiologists, surgeon, anesthesiologists, labs, etc.). Because one imaging department didn't get my Medicare number right the bill was sent to a collections agency which will harm my credit report if I don't get it fixed (easier said than done). I met a woman in my support group who moved from Maine to North Carolina and her insurance didn't cover any of her "out of network" treatment, so now she's in hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt. Others on Medicaid (for very low income people) can't get seen at some top hospitals. This is just to say that by comparison the NHS is so efficient and egalitarian but it has to ration some of the really expensive treatments--and seems a little stingy on genetic testing-- But I've been on this forum since I got diagnosed last August and I feel like you all in the UK have the same treatments as we do and you have some better support systems, like the Macmillan nurses. You may not have as much freedom to shop around but you are entitled to second opinions and top care. I would take the NHS any day, though it obviously needs increased funding. That's my perspective.

[Mc-uk in reply to delia2]

Wow thats a mess!

Here in the UK even privately you can get a colonoscopy with one bill i believe.

Its not the US doctors, who im sure are world class, but the system...

Heck i honestly arranged my family in Colombia (who have a 2nd medical system) to all have Colonoscopies by an expert by an for about £200 each (including anaesthetic and biopsy)

Id consider health tourism for at least screening - 12 month wait for a colonoscopy can be fatal .. trust me on that...

[Mc-uk]

I am not surprised at all.

GP Cancer screening and knowledge of typical early cancer symptoms in the NHS is frankly speaking abysmal. As a result of my own family experiences i wouldn't trust GPs clinical and diagnostic abilities one iota, with good justifications. ( they've got such time & budget constraints i doubt they even have time)

Also importantly the UKs contribution to national health as a percentage of GDP only about half of what Germany (and i bellieve France) do - and our health outcomes reflect that. Everyone we speak to has similar NHS horror stories.

I came across a few Tories campaigning recently and gave them a piece of my mind about the above - and heard the same old trite nonsense about better management....blah...

The NHS clearly needs much better funding and I for one would pay higher taxes if it was purely for that purpose.

(Not more vanity projects like HS2, privatising the NHS, aircraft carriers let alone our bloated foreign aid budget)

Charity starts at home

[BellmoreBelle]

I want to see that! Thanks for the heads-up.