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by binbinbinbin 1404 days ago
>that's not what anyone wants. People want the NHS to work, to be funded and managed appropriately.

No, they want cost-effective healthcare. Almost everywhere else in the world uses a mixed public-private model for healthcare, which IMHO keeps a lid on the excesses of government spending into the money pit of fully-public healthcare.
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_benedict 1404 days ago
The UK spends less per capita (PPP) than most other equivalent country's health system [1,2]? I never quite understand the "cost effective" arguments against the NHS. These costs include all of our private health care expenditure, which are surprisingly significant.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_total_hea... https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthan...

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usrusrusrusr 1404 days ago
The two are not mutually exclusive; you can pay less for healthcare than other countries, and still get a bad deal.

Eg: It's currently almost impossible to get routine or early-stage healthcare. If I want a routine doctor's appointment, I have to phone every day at 8am when the next batch of appointments are released, and hope I get one. Last time, it took hours on hold, and attempts over several days, to get one.

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_benedict 1404 days ago
Your GP surgery is privately run, so in this case the issue is likely very much an issue of the supply of available doctors, and how your GP surgery chooses to operate its appointment system.

I believe appointments are now run more efficiently due to the backlog and changes in processes due to Covid, with the reason for an appointment usually submitted digitally first, followed by an efficient telephone consultation that is well prepared based on your submitted reason for needing an appointment, and a follow-up consultation as necessary. Perhaps your GP surgery in particular is struggling, or you are perhaps not engaging with the new approach.

I have been surprised at just how well functioning the health service is right now despite the incredible pressures on it, but perhaps my local area is coping better than others.

Importantly, however, this issue was broadly not present 10 years ago when the NHS was better funded to meet its needs, and was still cheaper than other countries. So the issue is not the NHS, but funding, which is also corroborated by our relatively low level of health spending.

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