Just glimpsed this in the news. Renewal of the old high carb, low fat road to obesity. GPs and Practice nurses all over the country will be receiving their bonuses for making sure their cash cows remain fat and profitable. And to think we imagined they were taking some notice of the latest research.

it’s really very sad 🙁

The research must have been funded by drug companies who want to keep their sales up. Maybe in collusion with GPs who are coining it in by offering special clinics where they dish out bad advice.

It IS sad, Izzy! Very cynical, too. As an American, I’ve been
learning here what socialized medicine looks like, rationed
care, etc. I’m very grateful to have private insurance, and the
freedom to select any specialists and top hospitals of my
own choosing. If I have any tests done, I receive a phone call
with the results within 24 hours from my personal physician.
I would find it hard to imagine waiting 2 weeks to have a phone
conversation with my doctor. I’m very curious though, are there
those in the UK who do have private insurance? I understand
that for elective surgery such as a hip or knee replacement, it
can take months on NHS? Do I have that right? Do the cost
of some medications preclude you from having access to them?
I’ve always wondered about this!

On the other hand, nobody’s family is bankrupted by, say, the bill for cancer treatment when insurance runs out. I will refrain from further comment.

Many have private health care insurance in the UK, but then of course, you are limited by the amount of cover you have, so it’s not as simple as just selecting the best surgeon there is and expecting the insurance to cover all the costs. Having said that, for many the cost of private care would be prohibitive, especially for younger people and those in lower paid jobs and pensioners, who live on limited funds. I would say that in the UK most of those who have private health insurance, have it as a company benefit.

In defence of the NHS, by and large the care it offers is good and on occasions spectacular. It is certainly good enough for some outside the country to come here as health tourists, visiting solely to get sound free health care, having never paid anything towards it. In answer to the medications question, yes, there are occasions when the costs preclude the NHS providing them, but the individual does have the option of funding it themselves – assuming they are able to cover such costs. Again though, all health insurance policies have their limitations, so indefinite funding for medications may not always be an option there either.

Lastly,, I’m not sure any government is yet promoting the low carb route to defeating the obesity epidemic sweeping the western world, so the UK guidelines are pretty much in step with the rest, even if those of us here find it hugely frustrating.

There is private insurance here, Allie. You generally access the same care but have greater choice of venue and timing and it can be quicker. So I had a shoulder operation privately which meant I could have it when it was convenient but the same surgeon would have done it on the NHS as well, I would have been allocated a date and put on a waiting list.

There are some things the NHS doesn’t do which you can pay for (if you can afford it), there are National guidelines that they set about what treatments are covered. It’s really very comprehensive though (which is why it costs so much to run/takes a lot of our taxes). How/when they cut off what they provide is very political and can be contentious. However, it is more than possible to go through life in the UK without private insurance and not have to worry about it. I have had life saving treatment various times in my life on the NHS and both my children were born using NHS services.

To an extent it depends on where you live. Where I am the NHS works very efficiently.

An honest question, about your healthcare system, as the issue
is being hotly debated in our country, as well. Please DO refrain
from comment! I’ve seen others you have posted that are consistent
with this one.

I’m really interested in the opinions of friends here. Costs are
escalating out of control in my country. I know that some of you are
healthcare providers and nurses. I’d love to hear what you think about
the demands on our healthcare systems. Your country has seen an
increase in immigration, as has mine. Sometimes it’s hard to
separate fact from fiction. Thanks, all 🙂
Have a great evening,
Allie

Thanks Jackie & Sunny. I’m happy to hear that the citizens in
the UK have a favorable opinion of how the NHS serves the
population. Those in the US that have private health insurance
receive it through their employers as well. It’s considered a
benefit. The tricky bit is that the reimbursement is usually about
80% of what insurance companies decide are “usual and customary
fees” for services, and that can vary considerably from dr. to dr.,
or regionally. This past year o/h had major surgery for colon
cancer, followed by several life threatening complications that
extended his confinement from 5 to 23 days. The maze of medical
bills are still under consideration, so a “better system” does play
heavily in my thoughts. I always think the UK is light years ahead
of us in terms of the BSD. It’s virtually unknown here, mores the
pity 🙂
You guys are great. Thanks. I’ve learned something today!

Allie

Yes, Allie, our health service is great, particularly in an emergency. And no one is ever refused treatment or charged at point of contact. Of course it is underfunded – how could it not be with people living so much longer, and wonderful new innovative treatments for diseases and conditions that just a few short years ago would have been a death sentence. Naturally there are waiting lists, and there will come a time in the not too distant future when a choice will have to be made over what treatments can be given and to whom – in fact it is already happening in places…..what is called here “a postcode lottery” as some areas provide better care than others. But, on the whole, in an emergency you would struggle to get better treatment anywhere.
But our NHS would grind to a halt without immigration and the free movement of labour. My daughter in law is a GP, a partner in a very large practice and works all the hours God sends to give her patients the best possible care, most of her practice nurses are immigrants. My son in law is a consultant heart /lung specialist and clinical director at a large teaching hospital, working in excess of 60 -70 hours a week for the NHS, inc. most weekends, although he’s not officially supposed to, but he does it because he believes in it. Most of his team are immigrants. It leaves him little time for his family, let alone private practice – he certainly doesn’t have time for that. Of course not all NHS workers are quite so diligent, but the vast majority of them are. Of course it has it’s failings, “too many Chiefs and not enough Indians” (old phrase, not meant to be political or offensive) for one, underfunding for another and people taking it too much for granted and taking the p**s for a third. But on the whole it is a good system which works most of the time. I, for one, can’t knock it. Sorry, off my soapbox now – it’s just something I feel passionate about.

Well said Theodora. I think the best thing about the NHS is the total lack of crippling bills. Sorry I took offence alliecat, but you sounded as if you thought we existed in a state of primitive, ineffective healthcare purgatory.

Theo, you must be justifiably proud of your daughter in law and
son in law. I understand your passionate feelings about the fine
work and dedication they devote to their profession. It can come
at the price of family time, surely. I spent a decade of my earlier
life as a physician’s assistant to a neurological surgeon, and I
know intimately the sacrifice this entails. So many of his
colleagues retired because of the odious government regu-
lations imposed in a fast changing world, but he used to always
tell me,” being a doctor is not what I do, but who I am”. My
personal physician is created out of that same mold, and after
42 years, he seems more like my brother than my Dr.! Knowing
he was always on top of our medical issues was a great source
of comfort and strength to me during the past year. I think we
could all learn a great deal from the honest exchange of inquiry
and outcomes from other 1st world countries, so thank you,
my friend, for sharing your perspective. I’ve maintained my
interest in medicine, even though I’ve been divorced from
the practice of it for many years. Without our health, what
have we truly got? No soapbox, Theo! I truly value the opinions
shared here. We are subjected to so much political b.s. in this
country, to the point that so much is media driven weaponization
and manipulation of reality that it is difficult to separate fact
from fiction. Opinions regarding healthcare are best expressed
by those actually existing under them, so I really appreciate
the perspective you bring. See you out and about tomorrow
in all “the old familiar places” 🙂 A day without Theo is a day
without sunshine!

XOXO

Allie

Allie I can only reiterate all that Theo has said. We also have several GPs in our family and one indeed has retired early purely from the stess and strain. My GP practice is excellent and one of the few which does not operate an appointment system. The good thing is that you get to see a doctor the day you need to, providing you arrive by a certain time, but you have to ‘queue’, a very British pastime! The doctors, however, have to see all the patients and to be honest sometimes they are just frazzled.

I do have private healthcare but as Theo has said in an emergency it’s useless. If you need emergency care then you have to use the NHS initially. Private care is fine for ‘elective’ surgery such as a hip or knee replacement or for cancer care if you have really comprehensive cover. I think we have an excellent healthcare system but it’s absolutely straining again the seams for far too many reasons to go into here. I also agree with Theo that without immigrants into this country our NHS Could not function.

There has been talk of paying a nominal fee to see a GP and that may be a good idea to cut down on time wasters, but on the other hand, some serious illnesses could go undiagnosed. One thing I have noticed over the last couple of years, is that if you have an upcoming hospital outpatient appointment, you get a text reminder and also a warning of the cost to the NHS if you fail to attend without cancelling the appointment. That may help to save some waste.

Allie, my love, you say the NICEST things😊 Thank you.

I did wonder if I may get knocked down in flames regarding my championing the NHS but it is so nice to see so many Brits agreeing with me, and appreciating the service.

BTW, My father was an NHS doctor, too (and my mother a nurse), but I didn’t mention it because the NHS was a new and very different thing when he was practising. Same with my son-in-law’s parents, both NHS doctors, both now in their mid-80s, who tried their very hardest to discourage their 3 children to follow in their footsteps because of the stress involved. They failed miserably with 2 of them, who are both now NHS consultants. My SiL ignored their advice because, with a similar attitude to your doctor, Allie, he said “a doctor is not WHAT I want to be, it is WHO I want to be” and a damned fine one he is too!

So, as you will see, our family has plenty of experience of NHS, from both viewpoints. There are bound to be problems, particularly when you realise that the NHS is the fifth biggest employer in the world, employing in excess of 1.5 MILLION across the UK – no wonder it is underfunded! Last year, it’s budget was in excess of £124 BILLION for England alone!! How can our small island’s taxes keep up?

BTW Also forgot to mention that my DiL’s own speciality at her GP practise is not diabetes, but Obstetrics and Sexual Health, but she and their Diabetes Specialist both advocate BSD, and apparently were doing so long before I had even heard of it! I only found that out when she was staying with us over Christmas. So well done them – word is getting through😊

I agree with pretty much everything the other Brits on here have said.

Theodora – I was one of its 1.5 million employees (for over 25 years) until a few years ago and am still a complete champion of the NHS and its underpinning philosophy. It would be fascinating to hear what your parents and son-in-law’s parents had to say about the NHS in its earlier days. As you say about your son-in-law and daughter-in-law , so many staff I worked with, and I would include non-medics as well as medics, worked far more hours than was good for them week in and week out because they were so committed to the NHS.

Allie – it’s interesting what you say about your neurological surgeon and how his colleagues were retiring because of ‘the odious government regulations imposed in a fast changing world’ – the NHS is definitely a political football – and just the sheer amount of change imposed by one government after another (or even one Health Minister after another) can be exhausting, and more importantly shifts focus away from service delivery while the changes are being implemented. So, its fascinating to hear that similar things happen in the USA – although maybe not surprising.

Anyway, off my soapbox now….

I had cause to use the NHS today. My son burnt his foot and it isn’t healing, so yesterday I phoned and got an appointment for a nurse for today. She put better dressing on it and he’s seeing her again on Friday.

Last week I went to get my bloods done, got a follow up call because they weren’t happy, had a really sensible discussion about it, am getting follow up bloods done next week.

When we go on holiday, we will have vaccinations via the NHS, who advise what we need. I am slightly uncomfortable about this, as it’s our choice to go on holiday, I feel we should pay for it, but the nurse says they’d rather people actually didn’t get the disease for the price of the injection.

I do pay for my monthly eye drops (means tested flat rate, not based on cost of medicine), and the underlying condition was identified during a private standard eye test. Follow up via the NHS at the eye clinic.

Meanwhile, they saved my son’s life when he had pneumonia, monitored him during his suspected appendicitis and monitored my daughter’s growth when we thought she might have premature puberty (she didn’t). Not to mention all the GP visits when it turned out to be nothing, but they gave me their item anyway.

It makes me feel absolutely humble we have all of this. I do sometimes feel the provision is too generous and some of the more elective stuff should be paid for by the individual, but I have no clue where that line would get drawn. I do also think having this all on tap can make some people a bit passive in their own self care (perhaps I’d be better at dressing wounds?) and also we all can tAke it for granted, getting grumpy about the food or the waiting or whatever. The care itself has always been exemplary whenever I’ve needed it.

Theo, Marie, Sunny, Jackie, Verano, how do I thank you for such
a stimulating and positive conversation? I feel as though I
just spent a wonderful evening around the dinner table with
friends! I think of all of you that way, and I’m indeed proud to
know such bright, intelligent, strong women who are as curious as
I am about the things that impact on our lives. Long may we
be free of the need for chronic health care, but I’m overjoyed
that it will be accessible when we do! Last evening around my
dinner table I shared all the insights I gained from this discussion,
and it was a revelation to o/h also. The statistic you sighted that
the NHS is the 5th largest employer in the world was extra-
ordinary, Theo. It certainly puts a new perspective on it for
me. This issue is a political football here, also. It just makes it
that much harder to make impactful progress, doesn’t it?
I will now return to being my usual silly self, and will catch
up with all of you on other threads 🙂 🙂 🙂

xoxo
Allie