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UK To Ban Surgery For Smokers and The Obese To Reduce Health Care Costs
Replies
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RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »York & Humber were the first and it is slowly being rolled out across the UK.
The smokers is down to the complications during general anaesthetic I believe.
I worry that it is a dangerous president to set. We open the door for it to then be people who take part in extreme sports etc. I'm not sure you can close the door after the horse has bolted so to speak.
I strongly believe the NHS should start taking voluntary donations from patients. Just leave a secure nailed down box at the receptions. Also start charging for hospital prescriptions. Why do I get me tablets from the hospital free when the NHS is almost bankrupt? Crazy policy.
I believe we could make a lot of extra money that way to help fund a better NHS.
Edit to add, is if you can't tell I'm very left in my views
I'm not sure you can argue that people who take part in extreme sports will have issues recovering after the surgery. As a group they're likely best off!
I believe certain hospitals can take donations. Great ormond street can for sure. It might be nice to be able to donate into the general NHS fund.0 -
The NHS does receive donations. There is a wish list at our local hospital for charities to work towards buying because the official funding does not permit this expenditure. Unfortunately the NHS organisation is wonderful if you have something urgent, accidents were the way of things when the NHS was created. This hospital, with A&E services in the top 10 in the country is going to close, to all but walk in persons because its been declared quicker to get to the lesser efficient A&E in the next town! Traffic conditions are difficult to both particularly at the height of the summer.
Now we need to be into preventative medicine and advice. It angers me that the endocrine system receives little consideration. Everyone rolls their eyes when the thyroid gland is mentioned, generally the perception is the only problem with thyroid conditions is a trivial amount of weight gain BUT if you read the literature you discover its far more that this. Imbalances between the glands most often presents in the thyroid, raising or lowering the t3 levels. NICE is adamant that there is no benefit measuring this hormone. Poor and elevated, t3 levels are known to have an impact on mental health, respiratory, cardiac, dietary, reproductive, digestive, growth and muscular skeletal issues, all of which reduce the quality of life and the employability of the individual and the tax take of the country. I believe by not permitting this measurement of t3 NICE is costing our society money by keeping people in ill health. Causing surgical procedure which if they ensured the interaction between endocrine glands is optimal would be avoided.
I waited for an hour and more past my appointment time yesterday. I was happy too. Someone else was vocal about her similar delay for the same doctor, her time was much to important to wait. For some reason I'm having a osteoarthritic flair up. I'm using the wooden crutches I was given as an "out of are fracture" many years ago, they have been my life line more than once. The people you meet in any NHS situation put their needs patients first, they are the very best, its the system which fails us all in any capacity. I'll have repeat x-rays after 16 years from the last. I waited 48 hours for this appointment, I did not consider my situation to be urgent, when they would have fitted me in sooner. I'd have waited longer if I specified a specific doctor, up to 5 weeks I heard mention. I could not justify getting to A&E.
The system, Government backed, play on the giving nature of their employees. In recent years there has been inadequate consideration given to the recruitment needs of the organisation, retirees have not had their replacement cover considered. We are short of doctors, nurses, midwives, phlebotomists, radiographers and all other professionals from within the UK because training has been low priority, the thinking being we can import people more cheaply than training them ourselves! Now overseas people are leaving because of the referendum outcome which makes them feel less welcome.
We should let the local area decide its own priorities rather than have dictates from above.2 -
Basically the NHS is underfunded we pay very little per head for the NHS compared to nearly every other developed country yet we have some of the best outcomes in the world.
How do we fix it? Well here's my twopence worth, the biggest one is PFI's implemented by successive governments are an investment con and are basically loan shark interest rates made by private firms to suck money out of the NHS that should be spent on the front line, they should all be stopped. Closure of local drop in centre's is putting too much pressure on A&E and hospitals, the privatisation of certain services that are then turning around and billing the NHS is creaming huge amounts of budget for profit instead of it being spent where needed.
The NHS isn't perfect but it's as near as we'll ever get and it's being torn apart by profit hungry vultures trying to get a piece at the expense of the service both financially and patient care. We have to be careful or we could end up with a private model with out of control costs, that's where alot of lobbyists want to see it and that's why we're seeing it squeezed and underfunded so people can be manipulated into accepting a private model because the NHS is broken. Also notice the narrative that many news outlets blame its woes on "immigrants and freeloaders" which incentivises people to want an insurance model as they are under the impression it will stop patient abuse of the NHS if it isn't free and you have to prove coverage for treatment, when in reality this is a very small problem compared to the others listed above.
I hope we can turn it around I owe alot to the NHS, I pay above average tax but along with education, the arts and scientific research this is one institution I do not mind investing my hard earned in for the good of the country and is one of the few things that makes me extremely proud to be British.0 -
Omg people it's Govt run "free" health care. What do you expect??? The people here in the US that buy into single payer are going to get this. This stuff is not hard to figure out if you are thinking. Certain politicians in this country like to act like Santa and hand out free everything. Free comes at a price. S Palin was mocked and called stupid for talking about "death panels". Well what do you think this is??? An overloaded system will at some point decide for us who is treated and who is not. Get a clue people in the US before it's too late.9
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animatorswearbras wrote: »Basically the NHS is underfunded we pay very little per head for the NHS compared to nearly every other developed country yet we have some of the best outcomes in the world.
How do we fix it? Well here's my twopence worth, the biggest one is PFI's implemented by successive governments are an investment con and are basically loan shark interest rates made by private firms to suck money out of the NHS that should be spent on the front line, they should all be stopped. Closure of local drop in centre's is putting too much pressure on A&E and hospitals, the privatisation of certain services that are then turning around and billing the NHS is creaming huge amounts of budget for profit instead of it being spent where needed.
The NHS isn't perfect but it's as near as we'll ever get and it's being torn apart by profit hungry vultures trying to get a piece at the expense of the service both financially and patient care. We have to be careful or we could end up with a private model with out of control costs, that's where alot of lobbyists want to see it and that's why we're seeing it squeezed and underfunded so people can be manipulated into accepting a private model because the NHS is broken. Also notice the narrative that many news outlets blame its woes on "immigrants and freeloaders" which incentivises people to want an insurance model as they are under the impression it will stop patient abuse of the NHS if it isn't free and you have to prove coverage for treatment, when in reality this is a very small problem compared to the others listed above.
I hope we can turn it around I owe alot to the NHS, I pay above average tax but along with education, the arts and scientific research this is one institution I do not mind investing my hard earned in for the good of the country and is one of the few things that makes me extremely proud to be British.
The level of outsourcing of so many services, not just within the NHS, is absolutely criminal. Yes it started with Labour, "New Labour" and really ramped up with the current lot.
And I'd agree, I know a lot of people I personally know would happily pay a bit more tax to better fund the NHS.RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »York & Humber were the first and it is slowly being rolled out across the UK.
The smokers is down to the complications during general anaesthetic I believe.
I worry that it is a dangerous president to set. We open the door for it to then be people who take part in extreme sports etc. I'm not sure you can close the door after the horse has bolted so to speak.
I strongly believe the NHS should start taking voluntary donations from patients. Just leave a secure nailed down box at the receptions. Also start charging for hospital prescriptions. Why do I get me tablets from the hospital free when the NHS is almost bankrupt? Crazy policy.
I believe we could make a lot of extra money that way to help fund a better NHS.
Edit to add, is if you can't tell I'm very left in my views
This is true. There is never a point where a line is drawn and I think it really should be. It should be based on clinical outcomes for elective procedures. Because hip replacements aren't cheap and if you're carrying extra weight it is both bad for recovery and bad for the new hip. I may need to have a hip replacement at some point way down the line (dysplasia in one hip) and i wouldn't be in the least bit offended if I was told I needed to do xyz before being approved for surgery. Especially with the patient being supported to make those changes. It's better for the patient and for costs of treatment.1 -
Omg people it's Govt run "free" health care. What do you expect??? The people here in the US that buy into single payer are going to get this. This stuff is not hard to figure out if you are thinking. Certain politicians in this country like to act like Santa and hand out free everything. Free comes at a price. S Palin was mocked and called stupid for talking about "death panels". Well what do you think this is??? An overloaded system will at some point decide for us who is treated and who is not. Get a clue people in the US before it's too late.
I really have no idea what you are on about, death panels? Crikey is this what some American's think... how embarrassing for you, lol.
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animatorswearbras wrote: »Omg people it's Govt run "free" health care. What do you expect??? The people here in the US that buy into single payer are going to get this. This stuff is not hard to figure out if you are thinking. Certain politicians in this country like to act like Santa and hand out free everything. Free comes at a price. S Palin was mocked and called stupid for talking about "death panels". Well what do you think this is??? An overloaded system will at some point decide for us who is treated and who is not. Get a clue people in the US before it's too late.
I really have no idea what you are on about, death panels? Crikey is this what some American's think... how embarrassing for you, lol.
How short is your memory?
NHS did in fact refuse care that could have prolonged or preserved life earlier this year.2 -
stanmann571 wrote: »animatorswearbras wrote: »Omg people it's Govt run "free" health care. What do you expect??? The people here in the US that buy into single payer are going to get this. This stuff is not hard to figure out if you are thinking. Certain politicians in this country like to act like Santa and hand out free everything. Free comes at a price. S Palin was mocked and called stupid for talking about "death panels". Well what do you think this is??? An overloaded system will at some point decide for us who is treated and who is not. Get a clue people in the US before it's too late.
I really have no idea what you are on about, death panels? Crikey is this what some American's think... how embarrassing for you, lol.
How short is your memory?
NHS did in fact refuse care that could have prolonged or preserved life earlier this year.
The little boy? That's a rabbit hole I don't really want to go down but that's not a death panel. It's not for me to judge but that was a heartbreaking situation and even the doctor who offered to treat in the US said the prognosis was still less than bleak.1 -
Omg people it's Govt run "free" health care. What do you expect??? The people here in the US that buy into single payer are going to get this. This stuff is not hard to figure out if you are thinking. Certain politicians in this country like to act like Santa and hand out free everything. Free comes at a price. S Palin was mocked and called stupid for talking about "death panels". Well what do you think this is??? An overloaded system will at some point decide for us who is treated and who is not. Get a clue people in the US before it's too late.
The NHS has pioneered many treatments and procedures and has phenomenal outcomes for patients.
Otherwise I have no clue what you're on about. I'm guessing socialism in any form is a dirty word to you though.3 -
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Question: Can people pay out of their own pocket for a knee surgery in NHS?
No. They can go private though and you can have private health insurance if you wish. I don't think they can flit back and forth for treatment of the same procedure either. So if they had complications they'd have to go back to the private facility. That said, I don't know that they'd really be turned away in reality.3 -
animatorswearbras wrote: »Basically the NHS is underfunded we pay very little per head for the NHS compared to nearly every other developed country yet we have some of the best outcomes in the world.
How do we fix it? Well here's my twopence worth, the biggest one is PFI's implemented by successive governments are an investment con and are basically loan shark interest rates made by private firms to suck money out of the NHS that should be spent on the front line, they should all be stopped. Closure of local drop in centre's is putting too much pressure on A&E and hospitals, the privatisation of certain services that are then turning around and billing the NHS is creaming huge amounts of budget for profit instead of it being spent where needed.
The NHS isn't perfect but it's as near as we'll ever get and it's being torn apart by profit hungry vultures trying to get a piece at the expense of the service both financially and patient care. We have to be careful or we could end up with a private model with out of control costs, that's where alot of lobbyists want to see it and that's why we're seeing it squeezed and underfunded so people can be manipulated into accepting a private model because the NHS is broken. Also notice the narrative that many news outlets blame its woes on "immigrants and freeloaders" which incentivises people to want an insurance model as they are under the impression it will stop patient abuse of the NHS if it isn't free and you have to prove coverage for treatment, when in reality this is a very small problem compared to the others listed above.
I hope we can turn it around I owe alot to the NHS, I pay above average tax but along with education, the arts and scientific research this is one institution I do not mind investing my hard earned in for the good of the country and is one of the few things that makes me extremely proud to be British.
Jeremy Hunt actually wrote a book about how to privatise the NHS. These are the people in charge of our healthcare!1 -
stanmann571 wrote: »animatorswearbras wrote: »Omg people it's Govt run "free" health care. What do you expect??? The people here in the US that buy into single payer are going to get this. This stuff is not hard to figure out if you are thinking. Certain politicians in this country like to act like Santa and hand out free everything. Free comes at a price. S Palin was mocked and called stupid for talking about "death panels". Well what do you think this is??? An overloaded system will at some point decide for us who is treated and who is not. Get a clue people in the US before it's too late.
I really have no idea what you are on about, death panels? Crikey is this what some American's think... how embarrassing for you, lol.
How short is your memory?
NHS did in fact refuse care that could have prolonged or preserved life earlier this year.
So are all terminally ill children on life support kept on life support indefinitely and doctors don't make decisions to turn off life support ever in the US? I assure you Great Ormond Street is one of the finest pediatric hospitals in the world, what you saw was some vile ghouls trying to make politics out of a tragedy, noone could have saved that child it was a monstrous media circus that both the hospital and family were dragged through. You should have a real think before using that as an example it was disgusting how it was used.6 -
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animatorswearbras wrote: »Basically the NHS is underfunded we pay very little per head for the NHS compared to nearly every other developed country yet we have some of the best outcomes in the world.
How do we fix it? Well here's my twopence worth, the biggest one is PFI's implemented by successive governments are an investment con and are basically loan shark interest rates made by private firms to suck money out of the NHS that should be spent on the front line, they should all be stopped. Closure of local drop in centre's is putting too much pressure on A&E and hospitals, the privatisation of certain services that are then turning around and billing the NHS is creaming huge amounts of budget for profit instead of it being spent where needed.
The NHS isn't perfect but it's as near as we'll ever get and it's being torn apart by profit hungry vultures trying to get a piece at the expense of the service both financially and patient care. We have to be careful or we could end up with a private model with out of control costs, that's where alot of lobbyists want to see it and that's why we're seeing it squeezed and underfunded so people can be manipulated into accepting a private model because the NHS is broken. Also notice the narrative that many news outlets blame its woes on "immigrants and freeloaders" which incentivises people to want an insurance model as they are under the impression it will stop patient abuse of the NHS if it isn't free and you have to prove coverage for treatment, when in reality this is a very small problem compared to the others listed above.
I hope we can turn it around I owe alot to the NHS, I pay above average tax but along with education, the arts and scientific research this is one institution I do not mind investing my hard earned in for the good of the country and is one of the few things that makes me extremely proud to be British.
Jeremy Hunt actually wrote a book about how to privatise the NHS. These are the people in charge of our healthcare!
I would quite happily build a trebuchet from scratch to catapult that smug waste of skin into the Atlantic as far as we could fling him. :P3 -
animatorswearbras wrote: »animatorswearbras wrote: »Basically the NHS is underfunded we pay very little per head for the NHS compared to nearly every other developed country yet we have some of the best outcomes in the world.
How do we fix it? Well here's my twopence worth, the biggest one is PFI's implemented by successive governments are an investment con and are basically loan shark interest rates made by private firms to suck money out of the NHS that should be spent on the front line, they should all be stopped. Closure of local drop in centre's is putting too much pressure on A&E and hospitals, the privatisation of certain services that are then turning around and billing the NHS is creaming huge amounts of budget for profit instead of it being spent where needed.
The NHS isn't perfect but it's as near as we'll ever get and it's being torn apart by profit hungry vultures trying to get a piece at the expense of the service both financially and patient care. We have to be careful or we could end up with a private model with out of control costs, that's where alot of lobbyists want to see it and that's why we're seeing it squeezed and underfunded so people can be manipulated into accepting a private model because the NHS is broken. Also notice the narrative that many news outlets blame its woes on "immigrants and freeloaders" which incentivises people to want an insurance model as they are under the impression it will stop patient abuse of the NHS if it isn't free and you have to prove coverage for treatment, when in reality this is a very small problem compared to the others listed above.
I hope we can turn it around I owe alot to the NHS, I pay above average tax but along with education, the arts and scientific research this is one institution I do not mind investing my hard earned in for the good of the country and is one of the few things that makes me extremely proud to be British.
Jeremy Hunt actually wrote a book about how to privatise the NHS. These are the people in charge of our healthcare!
I would quite happily build a trebuchet from scratch to catapult that smug waste of skin into the Atlantic as far as we could fling him. :P
I'll help.2 -
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VintageFeline wrote: »Question: Can people pay out of their own pocket for a knee surgery in NHS?
No. They can go private though and you can have private health insurance if you wish. I don't think they can flit back and forth for treatment of the same procedure either. So if they had complications they'd have to go back to the private facility. That said, I don't know that they'd really be turned away in reality.
On my bolded bit... sort of.
Unless the complications are drastic and the kind that send you running to A&E because, I don't know, you suddenly start leaking green goo or something.
Also, some people go abroad for non-urgent medical procedures (including cosmetic) but the NHS then ends up dealing with the complications.
All irritatingly complex.
And curiously I was once transferred from the private side into the NHS for the exact same thing with no real reason given at the time. Apparently I was sufficiently medically interesting that the NHS wanted my records available for study and research etc, which probably wouldn't have been done if my data stayed on the private side.
I have a new mutation which gives an atypical presentation of an otherwise relatively common genetic neuropathy. At some point I get to be a case study for post grad medical exams
As for PFIs...
I've been working in project finance since 2003, including 4 years of PFI work near the start of that. While it's undoubtedly an imperfect system, I think there are a lot of misconceptions out there about the bidding processes and implementation. I also think people would be significantly surprised about how much infrastructure globally is procured under project finance and public private partnership models rather than directly by governments.
However, for SURE it had hit a crazy bubble in the UK by about 2007 and Labour just kept piling it on, with 30 year payment obligations that subsequent governments have to honour. Hamstringing much?!0 -
VintageFeline wrote: »Question: Can people pay out of their own pocket for a knee surgery in NHS?
No. They can go private though and you can have private health insurance if you wish. I don't think they can flit back and forth for treatment of the same procedure either. So if they had complications they'd have to go back to the private facility. That said, I don't know that they'd really be turned away in reality.
On my bolded bit... sort of.
Unless the complications are drastic and the kind that send you running to A&E because, I don't know, you suddenly start leaking green goo or something.
Also, some people go abroad for non-urgent medical procedures (including cosmetic) but the NHS then ends up dealing with the complications.
All irritatingly complex.
And curiously I was once transferred from the private side into the NHS for the exact same thing with no real reason given at the time. Apparently I was sufficiently medically interesting that the NHS wanted my records available for study and research etc, which probably wouldn't have been done if my data stayed on the private side.
I have a new mutation which gives an atypical presentation of an otherwise relatively common genetic neuropathy. At some point I get to be a case study for post grad medical exams
As for PFIs...
I've been working in project finance since 2003, including 4 years of PFI work near the start of that. While it's undoubtedly an imperfect system, I think there are a lot of misconceptions out there about the bidding processes and implementation. I also think people would be significantly surprised about how much infrastructure globally is procured under project finance and public private partnership models rather than directly by governments.
However, for SURE it had hit a crazy bubble in the UK by about 2007 and Labour just kept piling it on, with 30 year payment obligations that subsequent governments have to honour. Hamstringing much?!
I do think the Tories and New Labour are pretty much cut from the same cloth when it comes to the city, I doubt you would get a cig paper between their finance of infrastructure policies. 30 year PFI's are no different to bloody wonga payday loans, ridiculous interest except with FTB mortgage length terms. They were a backhander to the city and investors which the government could have funded themselves as proved by the funds made available by the bailout in the time-frame you're talking about. @cs2thecox If however you have an example of a PFI which was fair and the public got value for money I am very happy to hear of it and have my misconceptions challenged.1 -
VintageFeline wrote: »Question: Can people pay out of their own pocket for a knee surgery in NHS?
No. They can go private though and you can have private health insurance if you wish. I don't think they can flit back and forth for treatment of the same procedure either. So if they had complications they'd have to go back to the private facility. That said, I don't know that they'd really be turned away in reality.
Australia has a private system that runs alongside the public, taxpayer/government funded Medicare system.
If a person opted for a private knee replacement their health fund would charge the patient an ‘excess’ then insurance would cover most of the hospital, surgeon, anaesthetic costs etc. The surgeon would be able to ask patient to meet certain criteria (smoking cessation, weight loss) should they deem them clinically appropriate.
Should that person go home, develop an infection in the wound, or a deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism or other complication, as an Australian under Medicare (or other residents with Medicare befits/reciprocal health cover arrangements from other countries in some cases) that person could rock up to any public hospital and receive treatment under Medicare for any post operative complication.
............
Australians can also choose to use their private insurance to cover the cost of care in the public system. This only influences billing though, not care and some patients find it hard to comprehend that they will not get special treatment (such as a private/single room) by using their private health insurance.
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Here in Canada we just tax the crap out of cigarettes and throw the money back into health care. I think a carton of smokes here is 80 bucks or something. For ten dollars in actual cigarettes.
If they could tax the obese, they would too.
Either way, when I had jaw surgery they wouldn't do it if I was still smoking. It wouldn't have healed right and there would have been complications, especially since they broke it by cutting into my mouth and gums, so I had to quit. Plus, smoking with a broken jaw is really difficult.0 -
LiveLoveFitFab wrote: »Here in Canada we just tax the crap out of cigarettes and throw the money back into health care. I think a carton of smokes here is 80 bucks or something. For ten dollars in actual cigarettes.
If they could tax the obese, they would too.
Either way, when I had jaw surgery they wouldn't do it if I was still smoking. It wouldn't have healed right and there would have been complications, especially since they broke it by cutting into my mouth and gums, so I had to quit. Plus, smoking with a broken jaw is really difficult.
Yes that would be difficult@ I had to go off of all my immunosuppressant medication before surgery because of delayed healing/infection tisk0 -
LiveLoveFitFab wrote: »Here in Canada we just tax the crap out of cigarettes and throw the money back into health care. I think a carton of smokes here is 80 bucks or something. For ten dollars in actual cigarettes.
If they could tax the obese, they would too.
Either way, when I had jaw surgery they wouldn't do it if I was still smoking. It wouldn't have healed right and there would have been complications, especially since they broke it by cutting into my mouth and gums, so I had to quit. Plus, smoking with a broken jaw is really difficult.
In Australia, that carton of smokes would cost you $200-250, easy.0 -
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Looking at my wider extended family, even the most committed smoker is now a convert. I think there will always be those in society who, having started for what ever reason, now see the habit as an emotional crutch. Some even see smoking as a way to keep their dietary requirements under control, knowing many tend to eat more when they give up. (have they changed their emotional crutch) Like with weight loss the person has to be ready to give up. The NHS does provide many cessation services but I fear these are not as accessible as they were.
It is increasingly more difficult for smokers to continue polluting theirs and others air. All public buildings are no go areas for it now, even clustering in doorways is forbidden, relegated to an open cover at the back of beyond is all that is available for many, outside their own homes.
I suspect private pension provision still invests in the tobacco industry.
I believe too little emphasis is placed on nutritional requirements and nutritional deficiencies here in the UK. Good nutrition underpins good health. Read Linus Pauling said this a very long time ago.0 -
VintageFeline wrote: »Question: Can people pay out of their own pocket for a knee surgery in NHS?
No. They can go private though and you can have private health insurance if you wish. I don't think they can flit back and forth for treatment of the same procedure either. So if they had complications they'd have to go back to the private facility. That said, I don't know that they'd really be turned away in reality.
Australia has a private system that runs alongside the public, taxpayer/government funded Medicare system.
If a person opted for a private knee replacement their health fund would charge the patient an ‘excess’ then insurance would cover most of the hospital, surgeon, anaesthetic costs etc. The surgeon would be able to ask patient to meet certain criteria (smoking cessation, weight loss) should they deem them clinically appropriate.
Should that person go home, develop an infection in the wound, or a deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism or other complication, as an Australian under Medicare (or other residents with Medicare befits/reciprocal health cover arrangements from other countries in some cases) that person could rock up to any public hospital and receive treatment under Medicare for any post operative complication.
............
Australians can also choose to use their private insurance to cover the cost of care in the public system. This only influences billing though, not care and some patients find it hard to comprehend that they will not get special treatment (such as a private/single room) by using their private health insurance.
Someone marked this as ‘woo’?
This is all accurate information. If you think it’s BS do some actual research into the validity of my comments.
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Looking at my wider extended family, even the most committed smoker is now a convert. I think there will always be those in society who, having started for what ever reason, now see the habit as an emotional crutch. Some even see smoking as a way to keep their dietary requirements under control, knowing many tend to eat more when they give up. (have they changed their emotional crutch) Like with weight loss the person has to be ready to give up. The NHS does provide many cessation services but I fear these are not as accessible as they were.
It is increasingly more difficult for smokers to continue polluting theirs and others air. All public buildings are no go areas for it now, even clustering in doorways is forbidden, relegated to an open cover at the back of beyond is all that is available for many, outside their own homes.
I suspect private pension provision still invests in the tobacco industry.
I believe too little emphasis is placed on nutritional requirements and nutritional deficiencies here in the UK. Good nutrition underpins good health. Read Linus Pauling said this a very long time ago.
So the Live Well campaign, which has had many TV adverts and other advertising, including posters in hospitals and GP surgeries is inadequate and not putting emphasis on nutrition? And the cessation advertising in GP surgeries and pharmacies is inaccessible? Including offers on receipts from Boots that I get?
And I can remember adverts as far back as my teens for getting in some sort of exercise regularly, even "just" walking.
I know you have a perpetual bee in your bonnet about thyroid conditions and how the NHS deals with that but it's a stretch to say they have no regard for overall health.1 -
I'm sorry vintage that you consider I have "a bee in my bonnet" about thyroid issues. Just take a look at any of the UK thyroid support sites, the q&a sections There are many UK citizens who are sold short by the system. Its true there are those who respond to the only NHS treatment available, synthetic t4 supplements but there are more who suffer, many in silence.
I hope I said previously, low t3, the essential most active thyroid hormone contributes to poor mental health. Someone who is depressed with breathing difficulties, who is possibly oedematous simply will not see the information you refer to. They probably have enough difficulties getting the essential from the corner shop and do not have any incentive to go into town to see the back of a Boots receipt! I don't enjoy shopping. I don't usually watch tv, and not for the adverts. And because of my background, needing to educate myself in what having Hashimoto's thyroiditis actually means the, Live Well campaign had me laughing it was so pitiful. That information would do, diddly squat, for a Hashimoto's person, smoker or not.
Hasimoto's is diagnosed by the presence of antibodies', all other thyroid function test number are within normal range. When the thyroid is best part eroded is when the number start to go low, then they give synthetic iodine and panic if someone increases their dietary iodine, that it will turn them hyper, over active. It does not work like that. One needs extra selenium, vitamins and other minerals to convert the synthetic to active thyroid hormone. The cause of these antibodies is the presence of food particles in the blood, which the immune system sees as something alien and attacks it to prevent it doing damage to the body, only in its exuberance the particle is not differentiated from a thyroid cell or any other cell in the body so the immune system sets about eliminating all similar cells.
A person who has decreased thyroid function from Hashimoto's is more common than someone with dietary insufficiency, lacking iodine and other minerals from the off set even on the modern western diet. My doctors are dismissive of the presence of antibodies, in any other condition they are an indication but not when the thyroid is concerned.
I have had to learn for myself, with the Help of a BANT registered prescribing nutritionist outside the NHS. I have my life back. I never was the smoker I mentioned above, but I did have muscle aches and pains, head aches, breathing difficulties, fell for bronchitis as soon as sneeze, needed rounds of antibiotics and had a four or five mercury fillings, (gone now). I was told by a professor of Immunology that my long established thyroid problems caused my cancer, (recovered, it was a trivial one but presented in my 40's much earlier than is normal 80's). Antibiotics, mercury fillings, the contraceptive pill overriding the body's natural cycle and the copper additives to other methods all add to the strain on both the gut and the endocrine system. My point is that someone who is debilitated does not have the ability to give a damn for the pontificating eat properly, get active and stop smoking and adverts because they feel, sorry are often too ill to care.
Were the NHS permitted to investigate someone's condition properly and not in the fragmented way it does. Were it able to use modern testing for allergies and things many people would have a better quality of life, would be participants in the economy rather than being seen as the drain most see them as. And it would be cost effective.
Ensuring someone has good nutrition, appropriate to them, (the NHS goes on about personalised medical care and misses the point), in the US and Australia, it is possible to be tested for vitamin and mineral deficiencies, the provision of supplements reduces many a persons problems.
I will continue to have this tiny, irritating bee in my bonnet for as long as I live; because I know the population is being failed. All those cholecystectomies people under go every year, many could be saved by dietary changes enabling the bile flow to move as it should. Many of those people who need bariatric surgery could avoid it, with the modern advice! There could be fewer non alcohol related liver problems too. Many with fertility issues could be helped more effectively than with IVF. Those with PCOS would have their symptoms greatly reduced. It should be about correctly addressing symptoms rather than putting a sticking plaster over the offending problem.
I believe a person disadvantaged by untreated health problems will never see the barrage of information you think so good because they are often simply too ill to care. I know why I have dietary and chemical sensitivities, probably MTHFR issues; its because my thyroid/endocrine related problems were permitted to increase over my life time particularly the last 40 years. I was inspired by a Professor in immunology, so after I was not permitted to return to his clinic I set about following his pointers for myself. 100 years ago, before the advent of the NHS and synthetic chemical plasters people, those who could afford it, would probably be given natural desiccated thyroid, from food animals, because it was known to work in many situations, particularly mental health and mood issues. What we are offered is pitiful by comparison. The powers that be are failing to keep the NHS up to speed on current scientific knowledge.
Please, do your own medical reading from hospital medical texts and reputable sites. You can learn for yourself. I believe people who are least able to help themselves are being penalised.5 -
Question: Can people pay out of their own pocket for a knee surgery in NHS?
It's been a few years ago but a friend who was British citizen messed up his knee playing high level recreational soccer. Since he was an IT guy, the doctor looked at him, said yes, knee needed surgery for proper functioning. Due to his occupation, not needing it especially for his job it would be a 3 year wait. They would give him some pain meds.
He ended up going outside the system (not sure exactly what that means) and got the operation done in 2 weeks.
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Packerjohn wrote: »Question: Can people pay out of their own pocket for a knee surgery in NHS?
It's been a few years ago but a friend who was British citizen messed up his knee playing high level recreational soccer. Since he was an IT guy, the doctor looked at him, said yes, knee needed surgery for proper functioning. Due to his occupation, not needing it especially for his job it would be a 3 year wait. They would give him some pain meds.
He ended up going outside the system (not sure exactly what that means) and got the operation done in 2 weeks.
I did address this, being I'm a Brit. You can have private health insurance and therefore have procedures done outwith the NHS. Or pay out of pocket.0
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