Broadband for all - not political

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I take it you're replying to this today because you were on strike yesterday? ;-)

[Andrew]

Unlike our existing system where health care depends on the size of future generations wallets (who will be paying dearly for Corbyns madcap borrowing spree, on top of Gordons 1.7 Trillion pounds debt).

Free lunches don't exist.

[Andrew]

Err, the NHS had been *totally* dependent on fantastic innovative American health care diagnositic, operational, and therapeutic equipment, plus drug technology that only the USA can supply, plus all the boring stuff like billions of pounds worth of computerised Patient Admin, X-ray and Lab systems.

Have fun trying to run the NHS without it.

[Andrew]

The number of consultants has trebled since 1995. Many senior registrars became consultants a decade earlier than they would have expected (if you look at the history of the NHS).

On top of their typical £150K salary they get that wonderful final salary pension (*) and before 2011 they only paid 6% of salary. Now anyone earning over about £83K pays about 15% but this is still less than the actuarial cost of that pension.

Then in addition, they have the secret 'merit awards' that they decide amongst themselves. ANd people complain about bankers bonuses !.

Many (most ?) went through Uni and paid either no, or very little tuition fees. If they bugger off to the USA, Oz, Nz etc they can double their income (and more) and they keep their accrued NHS pension so not only do we have to pay billions to replace them, we have to pay that glorious pension too when they reach 60.

Because the (under**)value of their pension exceeds £1.05 million they are hit with the tax that G Brown brought out in 2006, and think they should be given special exemption.

(*) Newer medics are on a different, less generous scheme.

(**) For the Pensions Lifetime Allowance calculation, Public service pensions are valued with a multiplication factor of 20, but with 10 year gilts yielding less than 1%, this factor should be between 30 and 40. QED even the tax they are liable to, is significantlty less than someone with a private pension fund would have to pay. On a £2 million private pension fund (equiv to what many senior NHS staff pensions would need to buy) the LifeTime pension tax could be about £550,000 when you try to access it !! (55% of the 'excess').

This 55% tax rate has been in force since 2006, intended to hit private pensions only. Do we ever see any news items about it ?, (apart from whinging hospital consultants).

[bert]

In article [e-mail]>, charles [e-mail]> writes

Substantial parts of the NHS depend on the private sector - and always have.

[bert]

In article [e-mail]>, "Dave Plowman (News)" [e-mail]> writes

But it ends up getting spent substantially on the people who control the spend - the administrators.

[Ray]

They havent privatised everything else, most obviously with the cops, the legal system, the military, the bulk of the roads, the councils etc etc etc.

Why do you believe that the UK would the same health care system the USA has when it leaves the EU ?

[news19k]

Sure they are. It is well known that a Brexiteer's idea of the "status quo" dates from well back before the 70's :-)

#Paul

[whisky-dave]

No, I took a days holiday (Monday) as I'd booked a vet appointment for my cat for blood tests and the like, spending £257 at the vets I'd rather be 'working typing'.

While the academics might have been on strike the lab was still open for students and it's the teaching assistants who mostly run the actual labs.

[Andrew]

Cheap.

Neighbours ginger cat (the one that wouldn't take its worm pill) was puking up blood and crap everywhere (cream carpets mmmm) so spent the night in the vets.

Cost £400 for a blood test, platelet count and 12 hours monitoring. Overnight 'stay' £70, 12 hours monitoring £46, blood tests and consultation, the rest of the £400.

Conclusion, Puss had been eating some crap.

[Andrew]

The private sector built and equipt the NHS, and an awful lot of the hitech stuff the the NHS simply cannot function without is American, and this has been the situation for decades.

[Roger Hayter]

Apart from the old county infirmaries (council build) most hospitals were voluntarily funded. And then NHS designed and built until PFI. As to equipment, there are European makers of most things. And probably Japanese or Korean makers of others. Medical research is also by no means an American monopoly.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Of course. GPs, opticians, dentists chemists and so on have never been NHS employees. Are you against having a mix of anything?

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I do wonder if Andrew thinks the NHS should be expanded to the point where it researches and makes its own MRI etc machines. Some people are that odd.

[bert]

In article [e-mail]>, "Dave Plowman (News)" [e-mail]> writes

No, that's Corbyn.

[bert]

In article [e-mail]>, "Dave Plowman (News)" [e-mail]> writes

No, that's Corbyn.

[Steve Walker]

As long as we have an effective, efficient and comprehensive health service, free at the point of need (and that should include opticians and dentists that aren't included now), I couldn't care less whether that is provided by a state or multiple private entities.

SteveW

[polygonum_on_google]

Multiple private entities might be acceptable. But we all know, don't we?, that big private companies do everything they can to ensure that they have limited or no competition. They also do their best to be big enough that no-one can realistically see them sacked or go bust. Of course, even then, we do see mega-failures - and nasty fallout.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Whereas state owned industries have no competition by design.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Think most would agree with that. But as with anything, a total reorganisation can mean throwing the baby out with the bath water.