NHS winter crisis looms

But of course it's non-PC to suggest that anyone comes to the UK for free NHS treatment so I doubt whether anything will be done about it in the future.

Agreed Mair that our hospitals should have been claiming back money, from foreign nationals, all other countries make sure that they do, so the system should have been set up for us to do it as well. perhaps it will do so in the near future.

*Nothing like enough to cause the problems you suggest, mair.
0.3% really worrying.*

I did not attempt to put an apportionment of 'blame' to the various contributory factors DJ, but as I have already explained, 'Full Facts' is not an unbaised website.

The figures are only estimates and distorted because the 0.3% you have selected is the figure estimated for "deliberate " health tourism as opposed to those health tourists who claim they actually came here for their granddaugters wedding and just happened to develop a cough, which turned out to be TB (for example). The total cosst is 1.8 BILLION a year.

Of course it is Britains own 'fault' that we fail to reclaim much of that money from the EU or from non EU tourists. This is a side effect of a 'free' healthcare system whhich simply doesnt have the substantial admin staff in every hospital who would be needed to reclaim these monies from overseas. It would help if ALL foreign visitors were obliged to have health insurance.

May is probably banking on a holding pattern until it eases with the better weather.

www.kingsfund.org.uk/projects/verdict/what-do-we-know-about-impact-immigration-nhs

Kings Fund might be more to your taste. Unfortunately the figures make your case worse.

fullfact.org/health/health-tourism-whats-cost/

Nothing like enough to cause the problems you suggest, mair.
0.3% really worrying.

fullfact.org/europe/eu-immigration-and-pressure-nhs/

fullfact.org/immigration/immigration-and-nhs-staff/

Could you perhaps stop blaming immigration?

I was being facetious mair But even if I'd been serious you misunderstood my reply.

Correction drugs not rugs!!!

Jalima
You make many good points about the problems of the NHS. Its certainly not simple. To some extent its been a victim of success, there now being many very expensive rugs available for patients with cancer, diabetes, AMD (lucentis at £800 a shot), and others. All this eats heavily into the budget.

Labour screwed up the GPs contracts so they are costing more and working less (our GPs are very well paid!)

Closing or downgrading of A&Es (we are facing the latter in my town too) is an attempt to centralise costly services and make efficiency savings, at a time when demand is increasing, in part from foreign migrants who havent even registered witha doctor.

What we have is perfect storm where these things coincide with the ageing and increasing use of the NHS by the baby boom bulge, while the longer living and now frail older generation 80s and 90s are surviving a little longer (few in number but very costly) and then the final pressure is mass immigration, a hugely swelling population, coupled with abuse of the NHS by foreign 'health tourists'.

Its no single cause as WW suggests(???) but a combination of clouds gathering.

Oh I thought that the main issue was immigration

During the last election, people did NOT put the NHS top of their list; it is always "failing" and people are more interested in the Economy.

Time for a revolution sisters, brothers, comrades??

Still waiting for a reply from my MP Chris White.

She's not listening to the medical profession and public, which may end up being her downfall as people feel very passionate about NHS. There is a prog on BBC2 tonight about what it's like at the front line of health service, "Hospital" 9pm.

Thought May was very limp wristed at PMQs over this issue. It could mean one of two things.
Either she isn't wedded to the NHS or she is so overwhelmed with Brexit she hasn't really been paying attention.

Who do you know who took his kids to A&E a couple of years ago because seeing a GP would take too long?

Hunt has been in charge of NHS England for over six years. His department have consistently pressured hospitals to "increase bed occupancy" - in other words reduce the number of beds. He has also presided over the reduction in funding for social care delivered by local authorities. And the minimum wage has gone up meaning that you get less hours of care for your money. Residential care beds are also declining due to the increased costs. All this at a time when demand is rising. Everyone knew that demand would rise as the number of over 80s climbs steadily.
So Hunt's actions seem to have been a deliberate attempt to undermine the NHS.
It is a crisis of his making.
Implying that it is because people turn up at A and E for trivial reasons is a complete red herring. An A and E consultant on BBC Breakfast just said that although more minor problems are about 30% the work they require is only 5% of total. The problem, he re-iterates, is that there are not enough beds and not enough social care provision available to facilitate discharge and free up beds.

Yes I think you are right

He's not an idiot. He knows exactly what he's doing.

Hunt was on radio 4 this morning his broadcast. Amounted to " crises, what crises"

What an idiot. He would have so much more credence if he took the problem head on.

www.independent.co.uk/voices/nhs-american-doctor-privitisation-i-have-a-message-a7207706.html

From an American doctor who had to take his English cousin to Sunderland infirmary.
We should look after the NHS, and the government should stop trying to run it down.

Jeremy Hunt tells lies.

www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2017/01/09/jeremy-hunt-is-lying-data-shows-january-is-often-the-quietest-time-of-the-year-for-a-e-departments/

Richard Murphy's wife is a GP.

Heard Jeremy Hunt on Today prog this morning and he doesn't acknowledge there is a crisis in NHS saying there are now more doctors and nurses working, and pressure on NHS can partly be explained by "higher consumer expectations". So answer is folks, lower your expectations...

OMG! That's technology gone mad! I can only begin to imagine what kind of problems an app like that will cause. The mind truly boggles!

This is much more important. We don't even get to talk to a human first.

www.theguardian.com/society/2017/jan/05/nhs-england-trial-medical-advice-smartphone-app

It isn't really winter yet, either.

I'm glad she was OK, jacksmum. Another side of that is that the ambulance couldn't have been used, if there had been another emergency.