From where I'm sitting, this part of it all got fucked because GP's didn't want to get up in the middle of the night.Educate me? I could be totally off here. I don't think I am though.
Let's start by having the presumption of a charge @A&E which is written off if the attendance required A&E attendance. We already have the proceses in place to recover costs from insurers and while the revenue it would raise would be minimal it would stop the inundation of people at A&E who simply don't need to be there.
What about getting a saucepan stuck on your head?
Do away with the ability to claim for non-injuries and you won't see those people pointlessly filling up A&E. Address the cause not the symptom.I'm no clinician, but I can think of one condition which could easily be construed as not worthy of attendance yet is actually quite life-threatening if not treated quickly.....appendicitis.
Unlimited free access to the NHS is no longer viable, but privatisation/ payment is such a hot political potato it will have to be brought in via the back doo by making the system fail. Oh, hang on
Your previous post implied to me that many were simply getting a doctors note to claim insurance, not that that they weren't genuinely injured, which is why I was suggesting preventing the litigation culture that seems to have grown over the last decade or two.
Quote from: GCW on July 01, 2014, 02:54:58 pmUnlimited free access to the NHS is no longer viable, but privatisation/ payment is such a hot political potato it will have to be brought in via the back doo by making the system fail. Oh, hang on The claim that it's not viable is DailyFailesque bullshit. It is viable. In fact it's highly cost-effective.
Quote from: GCW on July 01, 2014, 02:54:58 pmUnlimited free access to the NHS is no longer viable, but privatisation/ payment is such a hot political potato it will have to be brought in via the back doo by making the system fail. Oh, hang on The claim that it's not viable is DailyFailesque bullshit. It is viable. In fact it's highly cost-effective. And we can afford it. Admittedly we could do with a few more billion, perhaps by building less trident subs or perhaps making the odd TNC actually pay tax on UK income. But clearly this government isn't worried about saving or making money. Indeed, their changes to higher education, healthcare and possibly even benefits, all seem to be costing us more. And they've basically let the city and TNCs go feral on their watch. They've also now basically given up even pretending they've improved the NHS. The NHS is struggling in some places, purely because of unnecessary and ideological budget cuts (as you say), but it's perfectly viable and very cost effective.--- The National Health Service has been praised as the world's best health-care system by an international panel of experts who said it was superior to those found in countries which spend far more on health.The study, entitled “Mirror, Mirror on the Wall,” also described US healthcare provision as the worst globally. Despite investing the most money in health, the US refuses care to many patients without health insurance and is also the worst at saving the lives of people who fall ill, it found.The Commonwealth Fund, a Washington-based foundation produced the report. The fund is respected around the world for its analysis of the performance of different countries' health systems. It examined 11 countries, including detailed data from patients, doctors and the World Health Organisation, the Guardian reported."The United Kingdom ranks first overall, scoring highest on quality, access and efficiency," the fund's researchers conclude in their 30-page report. Their findings amount to a huge endorsement of the health service, especially as it spends the second-lowest amount on healthcare among the 11 – just £2,008 per head, less than half the £5,017 in the US. Only New Zealand, with £1,876, spent less. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/nhs/10907823/Britains-NHS-is-the-worlds-best-health-care-system-says-report.html---You can call that selective usage of data, subjective interpretation or whatever the fuck you want, and I don't believe our system is the best in the world, but it's a bloody brilliant system and it is highly cost effective. Unviable? As long as you ignore all the evidence.
Quote from: psychomansam on July 01, 2014, 04:35:43 pmQuote from: GCW on July 01, 2014, 02:54:58 pmUnlimited free access to the NHS is no longer viable, but privatisation/ payment is such a hot political potato it will have to be brought in via the back doo by making the system fail. Oh, hang on The claim that it's not viable is DailyFailesque bullshit. It is viable. In fact it's highly cost-effective. Let me clarify.Primary Care can not continue to be free at the point of access for unlimited access. Funding is going up for secondary care. It is being cut for primary care and the workload is going up.Secondary Care does not have open access to unlimited numbers (except for A+E). You can't just turn up at outpatients and demand for a same day appointment.Our recent LMC survey showed that a proportion of GPs are having to lay off staff due to practice finance changes, and it's only going to get worse.You want an 8 til 8 service? On the same money? With the same number of GPs? I'm interested to know how you think that'll work.Bottom line is that patient demand is going up, staffing and money is going down and the opposite is true in the hospitals.So how is it viable and Daily Mail bullshit?
Bottom line is that patient demand is going up