| PS I don't know what documentary you are talking about? I have never created a documentary on the NHS. Certainly not any documentary that was "Anti-NHS" That is a patently falsehood. I did work a documentary on Rheumatoid Arthritis patients across Europe, not just the UK and not focused on health systems. The patients experiences with their respective health service were out of scope and not on screen. I did however speak with them at length on the subject. Before you go casting about accusations please have some rudimentary idea of what you are talking about. The NHS patients we met with each mentioned that in order to see a specialist on a timely basis they had to get private insurance after which their months longs waits dissolved to days. A close friend who was a staunch defender of the NHS after being diagnosed with MS has soured on the program and has also secured private insurance for specialist access. In another instance a young woman with a bowel perforation secondary to Crohn Disease has been waiting for at least two months to have surgery scheduled. Yes, yes I know anecdotal experience and all that but I guess it's just a poisson distribution that everyone I've ever known met or heard of that has needed specialty care from the NHS has gone the route of private insurance for access to specialists. Take a close look at the quote from the article I posted with the prefix "Note:" and then sound it out. Use your vowels and note that it VERY CLEARLY states that one of the problems is "poorer access to treatment". If you want to go on a formulary hunt to see which drugs are not paid for by the NHS that are recommended under NCCN guidelines or spend your night frothing over pubmed searches be my guest. PS I have no axe to grind. I'm not the one bringing profanity and personal accusations into this. You don't know me. You clearly have no clue about my politics but are clearly incensed that someone deigns to take issue with the NHS. The bottom line is that patients are dying sooner in the UK than elsewhere. If that is okay with you then great, I'm just saying as a personal opinion informed by my reading and personal experiences that it is not a system I would choose to live under or advocate the adoption of in my country. If you are happy with the health care system in your country that's great. |
http://www.nhs.uk/choiceintheNHS/Rightsandpledges/Waitingtim...
> You have the legal right to start your non-emergency NHS consultant-led treatment within a maximum of 18 weeks from referral, unless you choose to wait longer or it is clinically appropriate that you wait longer.
> If you want to go on a formulary hunt to see which drugs are not paid for by the NHS that are recommended under NCCN guidelines or spend your night frothing over pubmed searches be my guest.
You made the claim, you should back it up. You said that poor cancer outcomes on the NHS was caused by lack of access to new cancer meds. Your inability - over four posts - to name any drugs that are not available on the NHS is telling. Your choice to support your claim with an undetailed BBC report is odd. It certainly doesn't say what you think it says: poorer access to treatment is exactly what I describe in edit2 above.
> Yes, yes I know anecdotal experience and all that but I guess it's just a poisson distribution that everyone I've ever known met or heard of that has needed specialty care from the NHS has gone the route of private insurance for access to specialists.
What's your sample size? How do you counter the fact that there is legally enforced maximum waiting times in the NHS?
> but are clearly incensed that someone deigns to take issue with the NHS.
I criticise the NHS, in this thread. I am angry that someone continues to lie about the NHS, even after their lies have been debunked.