How have the mighty fallen? OT.

[Mary Fisher]

Hmm. Heard of d-i-y?

:-)

Mary

[Anne Chambers]

KABOOM !!! :) Anne South Australia

[Mary Fisher]

That's a L-O-N-G way to be blown :-)

Mary

[Mary Fisher]

Anne , you've hit the nail on the head.

Some people will complain about anything. They expect perfection (yet make excuses for their own imperfections). Life isn't perfect but whinging about it doesn't make it better :-)

This is what would typiclaly happen in UK.

As I said, life isn't perfect.

I'm glad that you and your husband had good care, there might come a time when everyone can - but there will still be those who think it should be better.

Thanks for your story,

Mary

[The Reid]

Following up to Mary Fisher

I don't do gas DIY! Electric, yes, all done before the new reg, of course.

[Owain]

Under the doctrine of patient choice, wasting money, and pandering to superstitionists, I daresay that'll be offered by the NHS quite soon now. They already offer homeopathy.

Owain

[Umbrian]

snipped sad sad story

I am so sorry to hear of your loss and relieved to hear that the experience was so well ameliorated by your health system. I got the general idea that 1) it was illegal to exclude anybody, and work was not the only road, but also social clubs, etc. and 2) the cost was leveled by using the entire population as a risk base, rather than in the USA where insurance companies cherry pick the low risk people and refuse to accept anybody who has been sick. Insurance being tied to jobs alone is cruel. In downturns millions are uncovered at a low time in their life when they are particularly vulnerable to illness. I am deeply shamed by this aspect of my home country. At the height of my career as an independent professional, I paid about

10% of my income for insurance and still had to pay 20% co-payments for care and got no drug coverage. I was not covered at all for possible recurrence of a cancer I had had as a youth. At the same time I was paying more per month for social security pension payments than I now receive as an early retiree. Those two items came to about 30% of my salary.

[Mary Fisher]

Of course :-)

Mary

[Frank Erskine]

On Tue, 18 Jul 2006 09:01:31 +0100, The Reid had this to say:

I thought the gas man was supposed to come on a Monday.

[The Reid]

Following up to Frank Erskine

you always worry, don't you, but it proved plain sailing.

[Andy Hall]

On Tue, 18 Jul 2006 08:00:00 +0100, June Hughes wrote (in article ):

The organisation itself.

At one point they even had a radio advertising campaign to attempt to recruit nurses back who had left to look after kids etc. There were voiceovers from "nurses" who had allegedly felt it their duty to return because the NHS had looked after their great aunt Nellie or something like that.

Utter and complete bullshit and representative of an organisation that believes that it is doing its customers a favour.

I know a radiographer who worked for many years in NHS hospitals and really believed in the system. Eventually the lack of professionalism, poor facilities, filth in places where there shouldn't be and general disinterest from colleagues led her to leave to go and work for one of the local private hospitals. I happened to see her recently for an Xray and had the opportunity to talk to her for a while. She has never been happier. The work environment is better, the attitude of staff professional etc. It certainly wasn't about money - she makes a little more but not a lot.

[Andy Hall]

On Tue, 18 Jul 2006 09:01:31 +0100, The Reid wrote (in article ):

You tell me. They should either make it free at the point of delivery, and genuinely so, or not claim that it is.

[Andy Hall]

On Tue, 18 Jul 2006 09:01:31 +0100, The Reid wrote (in article ):

The only aspect where an economy of scale is interesting would be the bulk purchasing power for drugs etc. However, that requires a small purchasing organisation, not a cast of millions to do it.

[Andy Hall]

On Tue, 18 Jul 2006 08:04:13 +0100, June Hughes wrote (in article ):

This is the whole point. It isn't necessary to have a state operated organisation on this scale.

[Andy Hall]

On Tue, 18 Jul 2006 09:01:32 +0100, The Reid wrote (in article ):

All that is required is a simple administration to organise and distribute funding in the form of vouchers for patients to spend on healthcare with a provider of their choice.

[Andy Hall]

On Tue, 18 Jul 2006 10:27:50 +0100, Mary Fisher wrote (in article ):

Just no government involvement in service delivery. It isn't necessary and adds no value.

Delivery of healthcare can be through for-profit organisations, not-for-profit foundations, etc. etc. There are a myriad of ways to do that which do not need to involve government.

[Clive George]

Yebbut commercial organisations are always trying to agglomerate. Remove govt as the employer, and even if you start with lots of private organisations/trusts/whatever, they'll all tend to merge.

cheers, clive

[Mary Fisher]

A gas powered boat!

There's posh.

Mary

[Andy Hall]

On Tue, 18 Jul 2006 09:01:32 +0100, The Reid wrote (in article ):

So imagine what could be achieved by taking out multiple levels of government bureaucracy and firing half a million civil servants.

[Mary Fisher]

I think Mike was saying that it IS free at the point of delivery and wondered why you were questioning it.