Things that piss you off that shouldn't

[limpid]

14 minutes ago, foreveryoung said:

But people shouldn't be blinded by the underfunding narrative. It's about very poor management, people in jobs which need not exist, as well as overpaying for everything from contracted work to supplies. It could basically run well on the financing it recieves, but would need a total reform.

Source please.

[foreveryoung]

19 minutes ago, limpid said:

Source please.

My Mrs and mostly everyone who works for NHS, example, you would be shocked how many actually die because fo neglect, no one is ever culpable for anything, like you would be in the normal workplace. Ohh, an my mothers friend who's a director of one of the trusts on £140k a year and works 3 days a week, if she has too. I have a friend who's a buyer,  has a contract with NHS, they pay insane money for contracted work and supplies, for example, £320 each for 20 taps supply only, which would retail at £55. It's a total mess. Yes it may need more money, but that's only a part of the problem, an open cheque book would not fix it.

If any other company was run like the NHS, it would have gone out of business.

[limpid]

15 minutes ago, foreveryoung said:

My Mrs and mostly everyone who works for NHS, example, you would be shocked how many actually die because fo neglect, no one is ever culpable for anything, like you would be in the normal workplace. Ohh, an my mothers friend who's a director of one of the trusts on £140k a year and works 3 days a week, if she has too. I have a friend who's a buyer,  has a contract with NHS, they pay insane money for contracted work and supplies, for example, £320 each for 20 taps supply only, which would retail at £55. It's a total mess. Yes it may need more money, but that's only a part of the problem, an open cheque book would not fix it.

If any other company was run like the NHS, it would have gone out of business.

I meant a source for the claim that the funding is sufficient if only it was run how the employees want it to be. I don't really care about personal anecdotes.

I'm curious as the NHS is the fifth biggest employer in the world and I'd like to know what it was being compared to.

[mjmooney]

17 minutes ago, foreveryoung said:

My Mrs and mostly everyone who works for NHS,

Well, if we're being anecdotal, three members of my immediate family, plus several friends and neighbours all work for the NHS, and tell a different story to yours. 

[foreveryoung]

29 minutes ago, mjmooney said:

Well, if we're being anecdotal, three members of my immediate family, plus several friends and neighbours all work for the NHS, and tell a different story to yours. 

Go on....

[il_serpente]

I work (for one more week!) for  the closest thing the US has to NHS-  a government-run health care system which also happens to be the largest health care system among all the public, non-profit and for-profit HCS's in the country.   Without question, there is a fair amount of waste.

Some of it is the inevitable byproduct of any large bureaucracy.

Some of it is a result of burdensome controls and processes required of government agencies because preventing fraud and corruption at all costs when dealing with public funds is seen as more important than efficiency and cost-effectiveness.  Private entities accept that small losses are less costly than the measures required to prevent any losses.

Some of it is a result of the generally low pay compared to private sector jobs not always attracting the highest caliber of employee and, in conjunction, the difficulty of getting rid of non-performing employees.

Some of it is a result of the government's annual budget cycle that not only hinders attempts to be cost-effective but also encourages spending every cent each fiscal year for fear of having the budget reduced next year if "you obviously didn't need all you got this year."

Some of it is mismanagement.

I'd say the last of these is probably the smallest contributor to inefficiency and waste and suspect the same would be true in NHS.  We've been well funded the last 15+ years but had some real lean ones before that, and I can state for certain that there was no way we could have provided the level of care we should have been during those years by just eliminating inefficiencies and mismanagement.

[sharkyvilla]

14 hours ago, Genie said:

You do.

Most people can’t book that way, you have to call at 8am (not 7:59, and not 8:01) and ask for an appointment. You’ll be on hold for 30-45 minutes and often be told there are no appointments. You can only book for the day you’ve called on so have to restart the dance the following day.

This is the new normal.

My surgery now doesn't open the phoneline until 10am so makes it even less likely to get an appointment.  I can get a 24 hour GP service over the phone through work (I actually called them at 3.30am and got a call back half an hour later which I thought was incredible) which helps a bit but they can't actually physically see me.  Maybe queuing up when they open is the best thing to do.

[sidcow]

9 hours ago, sharkyvilla said:

I caan get a 24 hour GP service over the phone through work (I actually called them at 3.30am and got a call back half an hour later which I thought was incredible) which helps a bit but they can't actually physically see me.  

A surprising amount of private prescriptions actually cost less than an NHS prescription too. 

If you just need some antibiotics or a cream to rub on your little problem area it's probably going to cost you less than the NHS too. 

[StefanAVFC]

We have public healthcare (obviously) but I also have private paid for by my employer.

It basically means I have the best of both worlds.

I only really use my private for specialists, I still go to first contact with the public healthcare. Ironically because it's usually faster  

[chrisp65]

13 minutes ago, sidcow said:

A surprising amount of private prescriptions actually cost less than an NHS prescription too. 

If you just need some antibiotics or a cream to rub on your little problem area it's probably going to cost you less than the NHS too. 

Always surprises me when someone suggests a cost for an NHS script. Free to everyone here.

[Seat68]

1 minute ago, chrisp65 said:

Always surprises me when someone suggests a cost for an NHS script. Free to everyone here.

[Genie]

7 minutes ago, chrisp65 said:

Always surprises me when someone suggests a cost for an NHS script. Free to everyone here.

You’re welcome, by the way.

[chrisp65]

1 minute ago, Seat68 said:

 

I do just find it interesting that little is made of it. Either bragging or moaning, or arguing it could be money better spent elsewhere. It feels like a significant thing, that if you live in Montgomery, unlimited free prescriptions for life. A cycle ride down the road in Bishops Castle and you’re paying whatever it is every time. 

[chrisp65]

Just now, Genie said:

You’re welcome, by the way.

I get stuff and just throw it away.

[one_ian_taylor]

31 minutes ago, sidcow said:

A surprising amount of private prescriptions actually cost less than an NHS prescription too. 

If you just need some antibiotics or a cream to rub on your little problem area it's probably going to cost you less than the NHS too. 

I get lots of e-mails about these things, but beware  - the claims are always hugely overinflated

[MakemineVanilla]

14 hours ago, foreveryoung said:

But people shouldn't be blinded by the underfunding narrative. It's about very poor management, people in jobs which need not exist, as well as overpaying for everything from contracted work to supplies. It could basically run well on the financing it recieves, but would need a total reform.

Various sources indicate that the UK spends less on health-care than other prosperous countries, at under $5k per head of population or around 11% of gdp (pre-Covid).

The US spends 18% of gdp, which is way more than any other nation.

The Germans spend 12% of gdp.

I think the problem is that the government has not increased the health budget in line with the increase in population.

The intention to increase the number of Physician Associates, does suggest that there is a shortage of qualified doctors, and the job description does seem overloaded with vague terms and hyperbole.

It should be noted that 41% of female doctors work less than full time, which may also be a factor.

[bickster]

I'm in work, I want to stick my headphones in but I can't because I'm transcribing a series of phone calls for a Subject Access Request from a gimp who can't change a tyre and abandoned our vehicle in a petrol station on the Wirral

There's only so many times I want to hear that he's never changed a tyre in his life

[Genie]

2 minutes ago, bickster said:

I'm in work, I want to stick my headphones in but I can't because I'm transcribing a series of phone calls for a Subject Access Request from a gimp who can't change a tyre and abandoned our vehicle in a petrol station on the Wirral

There's only so many times I want to hear that he's never changed a tyre in his life

This is part of the reason car makers don’t put them in any more (as well as cost and weight).

People just call the AA.

[mjmooney]

24 minutes ago, Genie said:

This is part of the reason car makers don’t put them in any more (as well as cost and weight).

People just call the AA.

Last time I tried to change a tyre: 

Jacked up the car. Got the wheel spanner onto the first wheel nut. Couldn't shift it. Stood on it. Jumped up and down on it. Nothing. 

The nuts had been tightened at the garage with an air-pressure device. 

I called out the AA. 

[blandy]

57 minutes ago, mjmooney said:

Last time I tried to change a tyre: 

Jacked up the car. Got the wheel spanner onto the first wheel nut. Couldn't shift it. Stood on it. Jumped up and down on it. Nothing. 

The nuts had been tightened at the garage with an air-pressure device. 

I called out the AA. 

First thing, and sorry for unsolicited advice, but always (try to) loosen the nuts before jacking the car.

Second thing, I used to carry a piece of scaffold pole in the boot when I had a car which seemed to tighten its wheel nuts by itself. That and a wheel nut spider meant I’d always be able to get off my nuts.