The NHS. We need to fight to keep it.

[Differentforgirls]

My Mil is 87. Last year (around September) she was bleeding from her vagina and went to her GP.

The GP referred her to hospital for tests, which she got quickly.

It was cancerous polyps in her womb so she got further tests to ensure they hadn’t spread and was referred for surgery.

Tonight she has been discharged from hospital after numerous tests over the intervening months and a surgery yesterday (keyhole).

She’ll get follow up treatment too.

All NHS, where she has been treated with dignity, respect and kindness.

It might not be what it was due to cuts but it’s still something we should be proud of.

She’ll celebrate her 88th birthday next month, as an OAP in social housing with nothing but her pension, because of the NHS.

AIBU for thinking the NHS is something to be proud of and fight to keep?

It's hard to answer that because it depends entirely on your own experience. I am nearly at week 10 of waiting for results from an excision biopsy. Yes, I have been treated with kindness, care and respect from some wonderful staff BUT the excruciating wait time is nothing to be proud of. This urgently needs to be addressed.

Yes but that doesn't mean it is a sacred cow that is not in dire need of root and branch improvement and the associated frank decisions and discussions about how to achieve that, especially with an ageing population.

Not that any politician would dare wade into it, mind.

The NHS needs to change urgently. A family member had the most terrible experience with the local hospital (in ward), ambulance, A&E and GP service over the past 6-8 months. I realised it is utterly broken, it is unsafe and can not continue in its current form. But I am glad you had a good experience.

What do you mean by 'fight' though OP? Do you mean pay (a lot) more tax? Or give up other services?

Agree with the others it’s not just a case of fighting to keep it, it needs restructuring.

My personal experience is that they have been good with emergencies for our family, but my maternity care and much of the care for my young kids has been horrendous. We’ve had to go private several times, including for a much needed op for my 1 year old.

On the flip side I have just spent the last week fighting to get my 83 year old mum (with advanced dementia) out of hospital because they totally disregarded her needs as an elderly patient with an advanced disease with no way to advocate for herself. I had to be there as much as I could to avoid her becoming dangerously dehydrated as they were not feeding her properly or giving her enough to drink.

That was all following a 26 hour wait in an a&e corridor the weekend before.

She is now home with urine burns so bad her regular carer who has 30+ years experience could not believe what she was seeing.

In saying that mum was diagnosed with beast cancer two years ago and has been treated wonderfully within that department (same hospital).

I have also been treated within the same hospital's gynae department for the last 15 years and they only picked up my endometriosis 2 years ago despite seeing my gynae every year.

The NHS does need saving but so much needs to be injected into it for it to be fit for purpose again. There is so much inconsistencies with treatment and waiting times etc withing the same hospitals, it's crazy. I can't see how it can be done tbh.

Glad to hear you mum is doing well. We need to fight for good quality elder health care. What I saw this week on the elderly ward was heartbreaking.

No. We cannot afford the level of services that is now expected from the NHS without everybody who can afford to contributing more to it.

We either need to limit it's scope or get rid of it altogether and get a contribution based system as seen in Europe and Australia.

that is your personal experience and I’m happy for you and your family member

But I’m currently on a 25 week wait list for gynecology so I don’t feel quite so happy about the nhs currently.

I have cancer, unfortunately my experience is very different to your MILs. I am not proud of it one bit. It’s good your MIL had a good experience but for many it’s not the same. And mine was not due to cuts but due to terrible staff attitudes and awful communication

It's a horrendous service for most. We need an insurance model like most other European countries. People that treat the NHS like a religion are responsible for astronomic waste of taxpayer money, and unthinkable amounts of harm and death through poor and delayed treatment. That means you OP.

Depends on your experience , my experience , aside from my GP who is absolutely fantastic , has been pretty poor in the last 10 yrs . 10yrs ago the NHS let me down to the point of near death and I only survived because I went private and then just pre covid they basically killed my mother (78) with poor care and disinterest . I certainly wouldn’t want to pay more taxes for it as it stands .

I’m sorry to hear that. We’re in Scotland and although it isn’t what it was - I have had more good experiences than bad.

I mean vote for parties that want to invest in it it rather cut its budget.

I’ll say YABU because “elderly person gets appropriate medical treatment for serious health concern” shouldn’t be a notable news story. It should be the standard. The NHS as it is isn’t good enough.

Depends what the investment goes towards though. Need to depend on a party spending money on the right improvements.

My promised 25 week wait for a hysterectomy is currently at 48 weeks and counting.

I am so sorry x

But the money still has to come from somewhere.

Yanbu but you’ll get people who think life will be better if we have a two tier system like they do in America

collective insanity honestly 🥺

I hope the wait for your treatment is much quicker, fingers crossed for you.

I hope your MIL recovers and it is good to hear she was well looked after.

But the service provided by most parts of the NHS in most parts of UK is very poor compared with the service provided by the kind of compulsory insurance schemes operating in countries like Germany, France and Belgium. Ask anyone who has ever lived in one of those countries.

Those who say we should keep the NHS instead of switching to a US style system are right. But there are many other, much better options.

Well we moved to a country where we pay just under a thousand euros each for private health care a year and it makes the NHS look third world.

I think the nhs is a shit show and not fit for purpose.

I live in a country that has health (monthly) insurance payment.

Never been in hospital - except birth 33 years ago, also excellent ICU care at 8 months birth.

Also had excellent care and tests when I needed them 2 years ago. Immediate tests for heart, lungs and liver (all came out good thank god).

I think it's normal to pay for health treatment, like food and a roof over your head.
You pay a percentage through your wage every month.

Nothing in life is free. We all need to pay our bills.

Not advocating American-style insurance here by the way!!

You only have to look elsewhere in Europe to realise there are better ways of organising healthcare than the NHS. The NHS model does not work well for non emergency healthcare, and it lets down those with chronic illnesses in a way that should be simply unacceptable in the 21st century.

The problem is that the NHS evangelists assume that any criticism of it means that the only alternative is an American system, which shows a lamentable lack of understanding of how to deliver healthcare. Why not take a leaf out of those systems closer to the UK, like France, Germany or the Netherlands. Even Italy, where I now live, has a better version of the NHS than the UK, in that while universally funded delivery is very different and patent outcomes much better. A common thread in all systems that provide better care and outcomes is a small co pay for many services, and more extensive use of not for profit and private services, funded centrally.