[2skep]

Actually, I never understood this. Is demand and supply matched and this is just the lag in the system (ie 6-8 weeks remains 6-8 weeks forever) or demand is greater than supply and this number will grow. If it is the former then there doesn't seem to be a cost advantage for the wait. A temporary increase in supply could bring this waiting time to zero with just the cost of 6-8 weeks worth of x-rays outsourced. And then you have a steady state system with zero waiting.

[Boothroid]

x-rays are generally pretty quick in the UK in my personal experience - I'm not sure the 6-8 weeks is representative. x ray technology is widespread and the procedure usually very simple and non-invasive. It's the more exotic scans that take longer to wait for as there are not as many machines, and if you need a gadolinium contrast for example that requires someone to pump the stuff into you during the procedure thus skilled staff requirement, thus bottleneck. I suspect the temporary increase in supply you mention is not realistic for the NHS budget and there simply may not be the skilled staff available to step up resourcing, and there's a fair chance that some of the people requiring the x-ray will recover during the wait! This last point is I think one of the tactics the NHS has been forced to rely on due to lack of budget. It's sad really. Not to grind a political axe but I suspect the NHS's status as provider of healthcare to all migrants free of charge hasn't helped, and may even have been a factor behind Brexit. I have a manageable condition for which I'm seen in a hospital in London every 6 months or so, and every time I vist it's apparent that most of the people at the clinic do not appear to have been born in Britain. I'm guessing this based on their physical appearance, the clothes they wear, and the fact that often they do not appear to have English as their first language. It doesn't seem fair to me that people that have probably paid little into the system are getting some of the finest care in the world out of it (at this particular clinic I mean. It's a world class research centre) free of charge. How am I supposed to feel about this when I have paid in for decades and have to wait months to be seen for things?

I'm hoping the pressure on the NHS budget will eventually force a change to something like the Dutch system, where insurance is compulsory but reasonably priced at the bottom end and everyone is ensured at least a minimum level of treatment, but has scope to buy a better level of treatment within the same system. If that were the case I wouldn't feel so bad about migrants bringing over their grandad for a heart bypass, or pregnant foreign women turning up at British hospitals in labour (there are documented examples).

[makomk]

In terms of efficiency, you're right. However because people get fed up of waiting and having to put up with their health issues and pay to go private instead, this reduces demand and the cost to the NHS. Think of it as a softer way of rationing access to some kinds of NHS healthcare to only those who don't have the money to pay for private care instead.

[comstock]

Or less charitably... they die...

[DanBC]

Demand is increasing. Supply is falling.