Thoughts for Today
- Thread starter yorkshirehornet
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I think it depends where you live in part. If you live in some parts of the UK no treatment is available, but move to a different part and you will get treatment under research programs. Think we are back to the postcode lottery.
Are you sure? I thought that experimental drugs might differ between locations but basic chemotherapy is surely available everywhere isn't it?
ps I checked on the NHS website that says it is free everywhere but that some forms of chemo are experimental so not available everywhere (not that they are payable) and that is fair enough.
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It depends on what type of cancer you have. Different trusts have different policies. Basic chemo is available throughout England and Wales free of charge, but when you are unlucky enough to have something apart from the normal, though that is not quite true as very few are the same, people will do whatever to keep a loved one alive, so will sell up and move to an area that has a different policy no matter how much it costs them. They may not get a bill, but it can cost them a huge amount of money.
So the cartoon was again wrong - typical of the fake news now so prevalent. Shame we have to be subjected to such trash instead of actual debate.
I am sure having cancer costs a huge amount - and money is probably the least of their worries - but chemo is free. Experimental drugs are not universal
I am sure having cancer costs a huge amount - and money is probably the least of their worries - but chemo is free. Experimental drugs are not universal
The trouble is that chemo might not be what someone needs, and while if you live in some areas you will get what is going to work, in others you won't. I agree that the message conveyed was wrong, but it cannot be right to see some getting better treatment than others often because of the funding and how it is distributed.
You could be right - but that does not mean the silly cartoon was accurate. Just another example of fake news party political propaganda we get from one quarter.
We have to rely on the NHS to provide the treatment they think most appropriate. As individuals how can we decide what we need? You cannot visit all areas and sample the different new drugs.
Another silly cartoon has followed. Funnily I can distinguish the difference between a house being compulsorily purchased for a road etc - whether it belongs to a rich or poor person and taking a house and giving it to homeless people. If you want to compulsorily purchase a house from someone rich and pay them the going rate and then let homeless people inhabit it then that is fine.
I hope none of the propaganda from the SNP finds its way into Scottish classrooms.
Missed this discussion but worth saying that what the NHS allow is determined by cost. NICE the department that determine what treatments to authorise are hidebound by politicians who determine the funding. Also dif areas of the UK have different facilities and dif priorities. Hence people have to move on occasion to get treatment. Also a child I know will lives in the UK has to come to France for treatment the NHS won't fund.. And to counter this drug addicts will be prescribed methadone.. Or obese people may get gastric bands..
The NHS is a better system than in the usa even with insurance or Medicare you have to pay a part of the costs (in most cases) so you could think by taking this pill its costing me 80 pound a month do i need it ? But the level of treatment is far better than the uk
Agree with all of this. Unfortunately the NHS has an upper limit on what it can fund. Demand will not fall as the population grows, treatment gets more expensive and involved and more things can be treated. So we either have to take extra money from something else - good luck on getting a consensus on what gets less funding or taxes have to rise - and that means on all of us. There is not yet broad support for such a policy - only the LibDems advocated higher income tax and their vote fell
For my money that's not really a valid argument. If you have a medical condition, are prepared to pay to go to a doctor to discuss it, I can't really see that you are then going to think along those lines. My experience in Australia, where both visiting a doctor and having a prescription filled cost, is that the expense will put people off from visiting the doctor anyway.
I'm not exactly sure what you mean by 'treatment' - the level of care you receive in a hospital or from a GP - or more up-to-date medicine/surgical equipment & procedures? Or is it just the medical profession's version of the American 'have a nice day'?
MY point was the cost should have nothing to do with you having to think about going to the doc or the pain is not so bad i dont need that pill .The reason that the care from the USA system is so much better is the NHS is so much about numbers and about getting waiting lists down .A lot of the USA is about trying to find the problem early (we get a full medical every year) .I never have ring the doc at 8.30 and keep trying for 30 min to get though to book an appointment to be told no appointments today .There are no Wards in my hospital in the USA and every room is en-suite .My wife had 3 X day opps plus 4 hour opp that she has to stay in 4 days .In each case we was given a write up (with pic) of what they was hoping to do. On leaving the hospital there was a 6/7 page report with pic of inside her And everything about her stay . It just a totally different system
OK - but your original post compared US to UK. In my experience, the NHS in Scotland is not like that at all - quite possibly it is in England though, from what I can gather in the press and on social media.
Again, the difference may be down to my living in Scotland, but we also get a full medical every year from our local GP practice - my whole family. In fact, my daughter and I get two as we both have asthma. As far as the 'no appointments today' issue goes, I thought that had gone out the window a good while ago, with GP practices working smarter. The screening process utilised by our local GPs usually means a same-day appointment if it is necessary - and it certainly gets patients thinking more about whether or not they really need to see a doctor.
Certainly sounds different. My recent, and previous, knee replacement ops included a graphic video of what the surgeon intended doing, but to be honest, once he'd done it I wasn't interested in seeing or reading about how it went. Mind you, that could have been due to the fact that I was awake during the ops, and knew damned well what was going on...
Im comparing what i have seen with the care of my 84 year old mum over the last 3 years . She got sent out on a friday afternoon after 3 days in and none of the family was told .We found out after my son has gone to see her in hospital (she did not like to make a fuss so she did not call anyone) so no meals and only a few hot drinks . Maybe they are short staffed over week ends
Brian having cared for my mother the last two years of her life when she lived with us and was in and out of hospital, I could tell you horror stories of the NHS failings..Sadly I am a over tolerant human being and have not complained once . Just asking for the care my mum needed.. A sorry tale really which in the future I may be able to reflect on
It sounds like, from what you are saying, that when my Mum's time comes, it would be better if she went quickly and didn't require long-term care. Either that, or move to Aberdeen to be near to my aunt. The treatment I get here is good, we have to pay for GP appointments - the amount varies depending on whether you require blood tests or other things (not sure what as I've never had them) but the basic cost is £41. The cost for my repeat medication is just £2 if the prescription is written outside of an appointment and that goes to the GP for writing it. If someone requires treatment that is not available here, they go to the UK, usually Southampton and that's predominately operations.
The cost for a long term care home in the UK is 600 to 1000 per week unless your assets are less than 23500 (then the council will help to pay ) but then there total needs are taken care of like the doc comes to the home every week hair and nails done once a month