Feel like I've betrayed my principles..

999callfornhs.org.uk/

The Jarrow March.

nhap.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=937c3e62bc24fa37708920cc9&id=4700dbc450&e=716bee6853

For those who would go private.

I have just read that D.J. Mike Smith has died because of complications of heart surgery, aged 59.

Another loss from when I was a teenager and very much a part of my life then. A lovely man, married to Sarah Greene for 25 years.

I have wondered what kind of surgery he had though. If anyone finds out, can they post it please? Thanks.

Months !

Rubylady I wish you well with your surgery. Have no fear , your treatment will be just as good . The food may be better and you would get your own room and you could choose exactly when if you went private but otherwise the procedures and surgeon and the care will be just the same.

Having recently had a new knee on NHS I cannot praise it highly enough and have no qualms about having the other one done in a few moths time.

Took the private option after my husband was misdiagnosed by NHS for a number of years. He was diagnosed with a life threatening condition which needed urgent surgery. The irony is that only a specialist NHS hospital and doctor could do the op so it was done there but paid for privately.

I think you are better off with heart surgery on NHS. Most private hospitals do not have the set-up for open heart surgery. If it were me, I would be happy with that route.

Or maybe I just shouldn't have read this thread.

I can't afford it now, private care, but I have had it in the past when I was getting headaches all the time and the doctors said it was all in my mind. I paid to have a brain scan. Luckily nothing was wrong. It was depression and anxiety causing the headaches.

But I would have the heart surgery privately if I could afford it. Back to finding that millionaire man I'm looking for...

To all who have made me feel so comfortable knowing that I have to have open heart surgery on the NHS in the near future, I thank you, my mind is put at ease.

Ana, it's only an ever more likely possibility if people sit back and do nothing to stop it.

My post was a bit unclear. Sorry. I do agree that private health care cannot be classed as better than what's available in the NHS. Speeding up long delays seems to be what private health care is best at.

Apologies, eloethan. Not sure where I was at this morning when I posted.

I was referred for surgery in August last year. The letter said it was only valid for a year. The hospital didn't acknowledge it or the extra copy I sent, or the emails, or the phone calls diverted to answer machines.

Last month I phoned the hospital and said I was going private. I saw the surgeon the next day and I'm booked in for the end of this month. I wasn't intending to go this way, but the alternative was waiting several years to see if they had "lost" my file.

I do not think that private health care is necessarily better - but it is quicker (at the moment) and you do get your choice of surgeon, which can be very important.

Indeed Eloethan- very well said.

I've never known a doctor in the UK who chose to go private- because they know the shortfalls in case of anything going wrong- also being in a private room may be more comfortable- but there is no-one to call for help, against if anything goes wrong. However- doctors will usually be seen and treated quickly by colleagues (btw, they make the worst patients).

Thanks Eloeothan, for once again expressing my views so much more eloquently than I can.

Ana - something miraculous (13.08.14 22.24) could happen, we could all pay more to fund the NHS

I don't think you are right, eloethan, because I don't think private medical health care (including, especially, complex surgery) is better than NHS medical health care. I suspect that private nursing may be better but that's not the same thing.

You are so right, Eleothan, the ghost of Thatcher and her privatisation horrors still hangs over us. Pity we can't find some way if exorcising it.

Any large organisation in any country can be improved but a recent study of eleven developed countries in the world carried out by a highly respected Washington-based foundation put the NHS in first place, despite the fact that we pay less per head than ten of the other countries. The US health system was found to be the worst as it denies care to many patients in need because they don't have health insurance and it is also poorest at saving the lives of people who fall ill.

There is no doubt that our health service is now under great pressure and one of the reasons is that it has been starved of cash. I believe that, as others have said, this is a deliberate ploy to undermine its efficiency, create public dissatisfaction and set the scene for extensive privatisation.

I think granjura made a very good point. At the moment, large private healthcare companies can afford to keep their costs lower than they would like. But once these few huge corporations control the market (the smaller companies will fall by the wayside), they will be able to charge whatever they like - as has happened with other privatised concerns such as the energy companies, the water companies, etc.

I don't think that buying a private education is the same as buying healthcare. A private education generally brings greater life opportunities but is hardly a necessity - timely and good health care is.

SusieB When suffering pain and worry, I'm sure many people might reluctantly pay for health advice and treatment if they could afford to do so. I'm pleased to hear that your diagnosis isn't as you had feared. I hope you soon feel much better.

For the last time, I am not, nor was I ever, blithely accepting and embracing the fact that we will all have to have health insurance as in the US.

I was just saying that it was a possibility in the future and unless something miraculous happens to make the NHS work as it should do, it's an ever-more-likely possibility.

Very true Deedaa

Ana since DH has been ill I have been in touch with a lot of patients in the USA who have terrible problems with their insurance. Many are not able to access new drugs because the insurance companies won't approve them, or they cannot go to a hospital offering them a new treatment because the insurance won't pay. I've seen people having to remortgage their homes or going on clinical trials for possibly dangerous new treatments because at least they won't have to pay for their blood tests.

DD's best friend had to leave hospital in the USA with her premature baby when they had both nearly died during the delivery. Her husband had changed his job and his occupational health insurance wouldn't cover her for any more days in hospital. There may be problems with the NHS but things could be worse.

I do worry about the NHS and agree that it does seem that they are trying to make it so bad we get sucked into privatisation

when I was on a ward last month on a drip, the agency nurse was filling in my menu, and couldn't even grasp the concept of gluten free - offered me porridge and apple crumble....

I would happily pay more tax to support the NHS and elderly care

Glad it went well Susieb- and that you will soon be on the mend.

That's good susieb wishing you well, feel better soon!

That must be a relief susieb755, thanks for the thread, and for updating us.

Penstommen's experience is reflected across the NHS and social services. My husband was made redundant because of the cuts. He is now employed as a consultant. Most sw teams are staffed by newly qualified workers, and agency workers. The agency workers are paid more than the employed sw, plus a cut goes to the agency, so much more expensive. Ridiculous, but that's the effect of the cuts. Penstomen's and When's comments about outsourcing services are spot on.