Least bad private Health System ?!?

However, could you point out a time when we had too many doctors and nurses. When???

Having watched the recent programme on the NHS my conclusions are that we should all either:
1) Pay for private health care/ insurance separately from that which we pay through NI and IT or
2) Pay more NI part of which could be NHS ring-fenced.
It's a drain on the economy when people who will, through illness and/ or disability, never contribute to the economy yet often require massive amounts of funding just to exist.
Eg: One person needed £1300 per week which the LA couldn't afford and had to make cuts to childrens services and libraries in order to meet that need.
Of course, quantative easing is still in place but buying bonds and using interest to print yet more money has not solved the problem. The divide between haves and have nots is widening and our economy remains on life support.

Urmstongran - the rules about where you have an op if you are non resident are quite strict as regards those who live in the EU. Your country of residence is paid for your healthcare by the UK. That is as it should be for those of us who paid UK taxes and NIC. You are not entitled to have treatment in the UK unless you pay for it. We had a neighbour whose wife had cancer and because she didn't speak French she flew back to the UK for her treatment on a regular basis. The NHS discovered this and told her to chose. She was also told that they could prosecute her. she move back to the UK and she wasn't prosecuted. She died less than a year later. You can imagine the outcry if she had been prosecuted. She was also receiving treatment in France.

I have some friends who decided to become resident in the UK again. They have a house here and also in the UK. He needs a knee op. I asked how long that would take and the response was that they would have it done in France because it would be quicker. When told that they weren't supposed to do that they effected not to know and said that they'd still got their carte vitales. So, it's not just foreigners who misuse health systems.

Someone else mentioned private health insurance in the UK. That's all very well except that if you have a long term illness you will be thrown back on the NHS. Our neighbours in the UK had a son who developed lymphoma and this was dealt with by BUPA. He had regular checkups and was declared to be in remission. About a month after his latest checkup he felt something was wrong and went for a second one. The cancer had returned, with a vengeance and he had to go to an NHS hospital because the private healthcare would no longer cover him. Sadly he died within a couple of months of the diagnosis.

Abbey - your story is very sad but it isn't always like that. My brother in law, who had Parkinsons went into a private nursing home. My sister in law had to negotiate with the DHS for the costs to be paid by them and they would take a charge on their house which would be recouped when she dies. Sadly my b in law only lived for a couple of weeks after going into the home.

ShockingAbbey I must say I and my family have recived exceptional treatment from NHS Scotland.From the smallest member of the family with her broken wrist to my OH 's heart attack,my mother and fathers care in old age and my own problems with menopause and gynae issues.I cant fault it .
Strange thing is a lot of the doctors in the hospital are from the EU,Greek,Dutch. German French and Indian..oh and the fabulous Egyptian doctor who I saw last week .The NHS will suffer if they all have to leave post Brexit.

Fantastic endorsement of the NHS paddyann and with a bit of luck (and it’s looking that way) none of those medics will ‘have’ to leave unless they choose to.
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Dinahmo your comment:
“You are not entitled to have treatment in the UK unless you pay for it.”

Quite right.
I agree that’s how it should be.

But the reality?
Not so clear cut.

At the hospital I worked the A&E would treat (of course) anybody who walked through the doors.

Not everyone provided insurance details (if a visitor).
And not everyone who was resident (some off grid) could provide an NHS number.

Result?
A department within the hospital chasing up payments for treatments from other countries.

As you can well imagine, not all (or even many) claims were successful. Deficit to the NHS then.
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Regards jura2 I was merely suggesting that with her property here in the U.K. and an extended holiday time to accommodate treatment, her husband could access a non-

(sorry, pressed post message too soon)

.... non-urgent minor op as a ‘temporary resident’ quite legally with the relevant paperwork.

A choice they could make.

But they have decided to choose to pay €5,000 in Switzerland on their health insurance instead.

The Regulations have actually changed- State UK retirees with NO income from the country where they live, do have the right to access NHS in UK- this was not previously the case, can't remember exactly when that changed. Having a property in the UK makes no difference, it depends on where you are 'ordinarily resident'. 1000s of British retirees cheated in the past, giving relatives' addresses, etc. But OH would NEVER brake the Law or take advantage.

We had relatives over from the USA, and after we picked them up from the airport to take them to the Cotswolds- we stopped for coffee. she totally forgot our car is very high up and fell forward, scraping all the skin from her shin from ankle to knee. OH put skin back as well as poss and we called 999- ambulance took her to Bedford Hospital A&E. On departure, she insisted that she had Gold Star holiday insurance cover, and wanted to leave details so NHS could claim back. She was just waved away with a smile. Not the fault of the 'foreigner'- she was shocked and quite annoyed as the cover had cost her a lot of money (both in 70s and with pre-existing).

So far so good too, paddyann, although sometimes the waiting lists in Wales are far longer than those in England (or probably Scotland) for non-urgent operations. Hence we have used our 'back-up' insurance a couple of times.
And I have heard that the care on the wards in our local hospital can leave a lot to be desired, although that has not been my experience, only anecdotal from friends.