Member Info for Dorfan

JR

That’s OK, it’s only a debate, no one is going to stop breathing over it.

JR

Hope this helps

How is the NHS funded? The vast majority of public NHS funding comes from general taxation and National Insurance contributions.

So I got it partially wrong, sorry about that. But the NHS funding comes from our taxes and NI for which I have contributed to. I am not getting it for free, nor are you.

Bloomer

“ I'm saying it's free at the point of use.”

I see my NI contributions, which part of it goes to the NHS as part of an insurance policy, so when I go into hospital I am making a claim on my contributions in the past.

Bloomer, then we have to some extent been talking at cross purposes, I am focusing on NHS hospitals and surgical procedures. There are many areas which needs addressing and GP surgery’s are another. Having also had prostate cancer my brother was refused a PSA test even though he mentioned me having it, so something isn’t working right. This is another pet topic of mine which is why don’t men get a screening check for prostate cancer. I know the PSA test is not conclusive to prove one way or another but it is better than nothing, especially as it is the number one cancer. Women get two screening checks for issues they have. It is very much biased to exclude men.

So Bloomer, are you saying when I had my op it was free? All my NI contributions counted for nothing then towards running the NHS then. As I said earlier, the NHS needs to get back to grass routes ‘health’ care and strip out all those areas that have slowly been added over the decades to make it money pit.

Bloomer

“ The NHS is overrun with ppl using the service that wouldn't if there were a modest charge.”

And who are these people, got any examples as to who they are and why they wouldn’t use the NHS hospital if they had to pay?

JR

I did but I don’t see it applying to the NHS scenario. As I said, I am paying something for it.

With regards to the French system working over here, that may be fine if EVERYONE pays. But what happens to those on low incomes or benefits, do they not pay say a 30% contribution?

And then dare I mention migrants, boat people and asylum seekers or anyone else that travels to the UK and then goes to a hospital and gets treatment. Will they be allowed to get total free treatment? I won’t be prepared to pay while many others still contribute absolutely nothing.

Jr

For those that have been paying NI are not getting NHS services for free, they have been contributing towards help, which is the point you are making. Once in a hospital bed I am not sure that paying a fiver each day is going to make NI paying people any more appreciative. I appreciated the services they gave by having corrective surgery for which I was truly grateful for.

Loopyloo

I’m not interested in what Farage may want to do, I am only interested in what I would like to see chargeable.

I will entertain you Loopyloo. Perhaps all governments need to reflect on what the letter ‘H’ stands for in NHS. Yes, ‘health’. As far as I am concerned all primary health care should be free if your issues are detrimental to be life threatening or correcting something to general wellbeing..

Now here is where I will be at odds to a number of you here, all cosmetic surgery should be chargeable, as well as all gender realignment. These are not life threatening, some may say they are but you won’t die if you don’t have it. There are other areas but these two will do for starters.

Uptheladder

I hope your post op recovery is going well too. I couldn’t complain about the actual surgery and attention to detail concerning before and after the op. I know some others were moaning about the food but I had to be on a special selection due to my op being on the stomach, which was understandable. It was a full ward I was on and being in a short amount of time I didn’t get much chance to speak to everyone.

“The RCEM said wait times could be due to a lack of inpatient beds and delayed discharge, often due to a lack of social care support.

In December, there were 61,706 days spent in hospital beds by people who did not medically need to be there - a 6% increase compared to the same month in 2023, said the RCEM.”

"Despite NHS staff warning of these conditions for years, SNP governments have repeatedly failed to give them the beds and safe staffing they need," he said.

He added: "We've seen record numbers of people unable to leave hospital on time because of the crisis in community care. It shows that you cannot fix the NHS crisis without fixing the social care crisis."

I rest my case Loopyloo and stand by the facts that the NHS has failed because of this crisis and freeloading, want to argue the case still, bring it on!!

Nope

Loopyloo

As I said before, it would be a lot better off without bed blockers and freeloaders. That will be a start before looking at other problems that exist within the NHS.

Glad I am not the only one, there are plenty of other sensible people here.

Loopyloo

For those of us that pay or have paid NI over the years I see myself as being a paid up member of the NHS, therefore I am entitled to make a claim on the system to be ‘fixed’ up.

Where I have a problem is for all those migrant scroungers or others that are getting treatment that they are not entitled to and not paid into. How many other countries can you walk into a hospital and get free treatment? These people are creating waiting lists for the likes of me and many others.

Also Loopyloo, where have I ever said I don’t like paying taxes. I pay taxes on what I owe as asked for by the system.

Cheers Bloomer, had something called a GIST in the stomach. Had a chunk of the stomach removed. After it was sliced and diced the results came back inconclusive if it was cancerous. So being positive I will take that for now.

One significant problem with the NHS are bed blockers. Each day there are on average 13,000 people that should not be in hospital. That represents 13% of the total beds the NHS has available. And the cost of these bed blockers is? Well at a minimum it is just below £2B a year or £5M each day. If these beds were available then I would like to hope the NHS would be coping a lot better than it is now.

I had surgery just before Christmas and was told beforehand that I would be in for 2-3 days, in reality I was in just one night and released. So I saved them two nights which hopefully was used for some other deserving person.

Bloomer - my error, I meant private ownership.

Bloomer - public ownership isn’t a problem, it’s the corrupt owners that can destroy a company.

Bloomer - we won’t talk about the illegal amounts of sewage being pumped into our waterways then?

Then on top of waterways we need to factor in lack of maintenance on the infrastructure of the pipe network, then the lack of building new reservoirs. I am sure I have missed a few other items as well.