NHS not fit for the 21st century

rustybin

I'm not disputing any of that. I'm saying what's being done currently isn't working so the people in charge need to do something else. And they're not. It's baffling.

Swiss Tony

I don't think it is baffling.  I think it is because the NHS is this ridiculous sacred cow that can hardly be touched, and it would take a government with a five year term in front of them, plus a huge majority, plus the courage to make drastic changes, to change the current NHS into something manageable, accountable, and affordable.

I don't see any politicians around who offer any answers other than to throw more tax payers money at it. There has to be a better answer.

I don't pretend to have it, but  I would start by charging for visits to the doctor or hospital, with a safety net in place for those who genuinely can't afford it. I think Ireland operates a scheme like that. Then there must surely be a way to incentivise people to take more personal responsibility, to take out insurance so that the NHS doesn't have to pay for everything.

Enki

Or maybe some sort of refundable deposit, which you lose if you miss appointments without Good notice or reason?

We really need to look at what is and isn’t provided by the NHS, there’s probably lots of stuff that is that shouldn’t be.

I know it’s Twitter and probably not truly representative, but already you can’t scroll through many tweets without a load of crap about how the Tories are murdering people and trying to sell of the NHS by the back door because they aren’t throwing more and more money at it.

IronGiant

It's small beer in the scale of things but free prescriptions are overused.

I'm an insulin dependent diabetic. I get my insulin, needles, etc, free. Fair enough I suppose.

But it also means I get all my prescriptions free, whether diabetes related or not.

It's only a small amount, but I'm sure there are lots of similar examples.

I don't think any single party can address the issues. We need a proper cross party initiative. Maybe even a royal commission.

Enki

What's baffling is that in the absence of an actual solution, they're not throwing money at it, they're not fixing it. They're not reforming it. Surely it makes sense to keep it going and let the next guys worry about it?

If we start seeing deaths DIRECTLY linked to wait times, poor leadership etc, it'll be enough to see the Govt fall IMO.

Enki

The World Health Organisation are not experts?

How the flu jab works                                                                            - NHS.UK
Based on this assessment, WHO recommends which flu strains the vaccines should contain for the forthcoming winter. Vaccine manufacturers then produce flu vaccines based on WHO's recommendations. These flu jabs are used in all the countries in the northern hemisphere, not just the UK.

IronGiant

Evidently not compared to our own experts on flu, but there we are always litstening to someone else when is suits our government.

IronGiant

Ahem

These flu jabs are used in all the countries in the northern hemisphere, not just the UK.

But obviously it must be the Tories fault if the vaccine is not effective?

Enki

This year's flu jab is designed to protect against H3N2, aka Aussie flu, but as our self appointed expert you should know that any flu vaccine is only ever 40-60% effective and less so in the vulnerable elderly group.

IronGiant

I'm just waiting [email protected] providing evidence of when the government overruled the independent NHS process which followed the long term precedent that they use the recommendation of the WHO.