Protect the NHS, part 2. Reduce avoidable hospital admissions.

[Kingfisher101]

And as i write my wife is quietly sobbing in her sleep again.
Two essential operations due in February and March have disappeared .... along with the pain management clinic that helped her through each day.
Operations for spinal nerve block and a hip replacement have disappeared over the horizon ...
I'll make her a coffee and assemble her pile of pain killers and nerve relaxants and help her to the toilet before i go to work and she gets the children up and ready for school.
What NHS ............. And don't crack on about covid, empty hospital after empty hospital ... ward after ward .. empty .....been there seen it.
The nurse on the steps of Truro Cathedral summed it up well .....

It was bad even before Covid as well for people having to wait years for operations. My Mum had to wait 2 years nearly for a total hip replacement when it supposed to be an 18 week wait!. They were hoping she'd die before she got it I think and tried to discourage her from having it. Saying she had a high risk of dying/stroke etc. She was falling over all the time and had no quality of life because she couldn't go out etc. Even getting her to the hospital appointments was difficult/stressfull due to her struggling to get in and out of the taxi.
Anyway, she had it eventually and is totally fine now and she doesn't fall etc, so her life has improved massively. I hope there's light at the end of the tunnel for your wife soon. Its really bad and you don't realize how non existent the NHS is until you or a family member needs to use it for a serious issue.

 

[Lookrider]

Absolute garbage. For a start, Serco run Test and Trace, not the NHS and secondly GP practices are independent organisations, not run by the NHS. Try working in the NHS and you’ll realise what a shoot show we have to put up with.

We were INSTRUCTED by the government to cancel all elective surgery, no choice in the matter. Now, after the experience of wave 1, they appear to be letting us run it locally again and we have the knowledge of what areas we can keep running, and what areas need to stop. Believe you me, there are areas that need to stop, to enable staff to be redeployed to help with Covid. And these are staff who are mentally and physically exhausted, but still they keep going. They also don’t want the applause, etc, or the adulation, they do it because it’s their job to be on the front line.

Well said
Its diabolical to complain about the NHS ...when I guess..the complained
Were BORN in the NHS system to a mother that was treated by the NHS
Had treatment throughout thete childhood and adulthood
They likely went on to miss Free NHS appointments..demanded scripts for tablets available over the counter
The NHS may have issues like every business ...but many of thete customers are yo blame for abusing it AND the staff at these establishments
Who ho to work day in day out whilst many other workers do not want to go to there place of work

 

[Drago]

The reality is, as always, a middle ground. The NHS is indisputably useful, but is also healvily politicised in outlook and implementation. Hell, it even emulates the vast, creaking bureaucracy of Westminster.

There is a need to protect the NHS, but not from us. In terms of financial resources per customer its one of the hest funded organisations on the planet, but so much of that is spent on things that simply do not make a positive contribution to service delivery. If the NHS needs protecting from anyone its from the Golgafrinchan management, and the succession of governments that allow the situation to persist.

 

[Kingfisher101]

Well said
Its diabolical to complain about the NHS ...when I guess..the complained
Were BORN in the NHS system to a mother that was treated by the NHS
Had treatment throughout thete childhood and adulthood
They likely went on to miss Free NHS appointments..demanded scripts for tablets available over the counter
The NHS may have issues like every business ...but many of thete customers are yo blame for abusing it AND the staff at these establishments
Who ho to work day in day out whilst many other workers do not want to go to there place of work

I disagree, people are paying for it and they pay a fair bit in tax and NI if they are a middle-high earner. So if someone is paying for something then they have every right to complain if that service falls short of expectations. I personally think its not very good and that you often have to pay privately if you need anything doing or wait for years.

 

[newfhouse]

I disagree, people are paying for it and they pay a fair bit in tax and NI if they are a middle-high earner. So if someone is paying for something then they have every right to complain if that service falls short of expectations. I personally think its not very good and that you often have to pay privately if you need anything doing or wait for years.

What would make it better?

 

[Lookrider]

Well your NOT really paying for it are you
Your treatment and care is being massively subsidised and your contribution via a tax is minimal ...
A tax that a lot of people not working etc simply do not contribute
If your were to pay for it then that would be via a private treatment to which like any form of consumer product you would be in your rights to complain about anything
If anyone did have a minor ailment needing treatment ie physio or dental
And did not want to wait for NHS treatment ..then with a little simple money management and being prudent by

How many cars in household
Hold back on holiday
Cancelling sky super sports monthly
Sky films subscription
Cancel unlimited iPhone data ( wi fi everywhere )
Cancel netflix monthy
Cancel amazon prime
Give up beer/tabs for a couple weeks
Buy more veggies for home cooking ..
Then we may well find that those small sacrifices can go towards improving your own health by redistributing that money towards private treatment

You dont always have to wait for years at all .that's just a complaint by complaners ...sometimes maybe yes

I pay for physio once every 6 weeks for well being
But cannot help notice that when I call for an appointment
You are asked to press 1 for NHS or 2 for private
These private clinics DO TAKE nhs customers who are sent there by the NHS at the tax payers expense
Ask around and you will find friends /relatives who have had NHS treatments at private clinics with a fast turn around
Cousin of mine had knee surgery at spire clinic and now expects all their follow up and rehab to be done at the spire ..

We are all responsible for our own health first and foremost without expectations from the NHS

 

[Deleted member 26715]

Well your NOT really paying for it are you

If we're not where does all that money go?

 

[Kingfisher101]

Well your NOT really paying for it are you
Your treatment and care is being massively subsidised and your contribution via a tax is minimal ...
A tax that a lot of people not working etc simply do not contribute
If your were to pay for it then that would be via a private treatment to which like any form of consumer product you would be in your rights to complain about anything
If anyone did have a minor ailment needing treatment ie physio or dental
And did not want to wait for NHS treatment ..then with a little simple money management and being prudent by

How many cars in household
Hold back on holiday
Cancelling sky super sports monthly
Sky films subscription
Cancel unlimited iPhone data ( wi fi everywhere )
Cancel netflix monthy
Cancel amazon prime
Give up beer/tabs for a couple weeks
Buy more veggies for home cooking ..
Then we may well find that those small sacrifices can go towards improving your own health by redistributing that money towards private treatment

You dont always have to wait for years at all .that's just a complaint by complaners ...sometimes maybe yes

I pay for physio once every 6 weeks for well being
But cannot help notice that when I call for an appointment
You are asked to press 1 for NHS or 2 for private
These private clinics DO TAKE nhs customers who are sent there by the NHS at the tax payers expense
Ask around and you will find friends /relatives who have had NHS treatments at private clinics with a fast turn around
Cousin of mine had knee surgery at spire clinic and now expects all their follow up and rehab to be done at the spire ..

We are all responsible for our own health first and foremost without expectations from the NHS

You're being silly now.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

Mod Note:

We are straying from the original intention of the thread once again and getting into the general politics of the NHS. If that's what you wish to discuss then a new thread in News & Current Affairs would be more suitable.

As a reminder, the original question was about whether we as cyclists should be more responsible for managing our risks to reduce the burden on the NHS.

Keep it nice folks.

 

[I like Skol]

I think the thread has run its course and is probably ready to be locked now?

The suggestion/discussion is not really about 'protecting the NHS', which most posters have taken as a opportunity to pile in and kick the NHS, but is actually about protecting yourselves, your family, your friends, your colleagues and also strangers.

This is an unprecedented situation in modern times, frequently likened to being at war and the suggestion is that we 'do our bit' (Dig for Victory?) by taking extra care/precautions to stay healthy and avoid taking NHS resources that may be crucial in saving the lives of any one of the people mentioned above.

Seems like many here would selfishly rather not support this effort and instead continually derail the thread and use it as a means to air their own political views and gripes.

It's a nice world we live in....

 

[Deleted member 26715]

This is an unprecedented situation in modern times, frequently likened to being at war and the suggestion is that we 'do our bit' (Dig for Victory?) by taking extra care/precautions to stay healthy and avoid taking NHS resources that may be crucial in saving the lives of any one of the people mentioned above..

Yes unprecedented times, but nothing like being at war, there is no correlation between the two, it's very difficult not to get Political, but the mixed messages coming out from the Government make it very easy for people to justify their actions.

The Government policy is as clear a mud, I had a bad accident 6 month yesterday ago, under normal circumstances I would have called 999 if there had been a signal, in the end a rode 1 mile luckily downhill to get a signal & called my wife who came & collected me. Again under normal circumstances I would have had her take me to A&E as it was I didn't I didn't want to be inside a hospital.

But that is the only 'real' accident I have had in the last 10 years, so I'm not sure staying off a bike with the subsequent loss of fitness is the answer.

 

[mjr]

OK in an effort to get this back on topic: I find myself using cycleways more, especially in town, including some I normally ignored, in an effort to make my cycling safer.

I find this curious. I know the statistics. I know that, in general, as far as the statistics go, there are few significant safety differences in general between cycleways and carriageways that people actually cycle on, so why do I do it? I think it's because of "fear from the rear", that phenomenon that if you get left hooked or rear ended, you'd get very little warning. On a cycleway, I should at least hear most of them hit the barriers or strike the kerbs and have a second or two more to ride into the hedge or drain. I feel that cycleways put my fate more into my control, not the following motorists.

There's also probably some effect from the astonishing speeding during first lockdown as bad drivers exploited the quiet roads. Someone was done for 130mph or so on a 40mph bit of our road IIRC.

Also, I find a good perpendicular cycleway crossing easier to negotiate than most road junctions and we have a good selection of rail, river and park trails, so fewer junctions to negotiate anyway and junctions are collision hotspots... but that doesn't explain why I'm using more roadside cycleways.

Anyone else noticed they've changed riding habits?

 

[Deleted member 26715]

Anyone else noticed they've changed riding habits?

I ride on the road as little as possible but that has not changed specifically in the last 9 months, but I do feel that car speed has increased

 

[boydj]

I simply don't see it as the Taxpayer's responsibility to provide unlimited free services to people who have medical problems entirely due to their own lazy, unhealthy, or dangerous lifestyles. If you choose to live a certain way, and that drastically increases your need for medical treatment, then you should be stumping up the extra cash yourself, not everyone else giving you a free ride.
With regards to specific conditions, the way I look at it is simple; if it's hereditary (like Type 1 diabetes) then you should be covered 100%, but if you suffer a condition because you're grossly obese and abuse your body (i.e. Type 2 diabetes) then that's your problem to deal with, not my responsibility to subsidise.

Even the bulk of the tory party wouldn't agree with this. While the NHS is far from perfect it is usually there when we need it, and if, as a cyclist, you were involved in an incident, the emergency treatment would be as good as you could get anywhere. More particularly, the staff you meet in the NHS are unfailingly kind, caring and competent - even when dealing with the type of people you describe above.

 

[boydj]

They dont at all, have you just made that up off the top of your head? Thousands of people here in the U.K die every year because they dont get the treatment on the NHS they need. The NHS pays out millions per year to families who have sued it due to medical negligence as well.

A tiny precentage of the total treated by the NHS.