It is a common belief among old people that they have paid National Insurance all their lives and, therefore, aren't getting anything more than their just deserts from the NHS.
Because I have lived abroad and remember how hesitant I was to seek any kind of medical help (insurance never covers the whole cost, and, anyway, you have to provide the money up front and then claim it back) I am very conscious of how lucky we are to be unhesitatingly ready to look for medical care for the least sniffle.
My mother, once, years ago, lost some valuable pills and had to pay to have them replaced. She was shocked and amazed at how much they had cost, and was more careful afterwards. I've never heard of this happening on any other occasion and, short of sending everyone off to the USA for a while to begin to understand what life is like without a Health Service, I don't know what could be done, but there must be a way in which we could be made aware of, say, the cost of an average course of antibiotics, or of calling out an ambulance or of a hip replacement, or of a night in hospital. The result might be more of a counting of blessings than the constant complaining that is the conventional behaviour. I am sure that the public could, if better informed, do a great deal to save the Health Service from its constant state of penury.
This blog is a plea for common sense in public policy. Our leaders don't seem to have any. They just make daft rules for us to follow. We need to assert our right to use our own good sense instead of ticking boxes which can only say 'yes' or 'no'.
Showing posts with label NHS finances. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NHS finances. Show all posts
Friday, 20 January 2012
Sunday, 4 December 2011
Is this one reason the NHS is in the red?
Yesterday I visited an ex-nurse, now in her 90s and in a private nursing home, not able to walk much but very clear in her mind.
She told me of 3 instances where she couldn't imagine why NHS services had been used to look after her, while the Home, in order to comply with its registration requirements, has to have a trained nurse on the staff all the time.
The first was when she was sent to Hospital by ambulance for an enema!
The second was when she had a fall in the night, cutting her head. She refused to go to hospital that night, but they sent her off anyway in the morning, where the cut was treated and she was brought back.
When the cut was healed the Home insisted that because the dressing had been put on in hospital a district nurse had to come to remove the plaster, which she did in 1 minute, having driven how far to get there?
The third was on Friday, when, her ears needing syringing, she had been putting olive oil in them for a few days. The district nurse came and just looked at them and said he' d return next week, but would syringe them one at a time on different days.
She is paying for care in this Home. Why should the NHS be involved with these minor matters? The Home insists that these procedures are demanded by the NHS. This is daftness. Why should anybody beyond the Home ever even know about them?
We both wonder if this is happening on a grand scale. Does anybody know?
She told me of 3 instances where she couldn't imagine why NHS services had been used to look after her, while the Home, in order to comply with its registration requirements, has to have a trained nurse on the staff all the time.
The first was when she was sent to Hospital by ambulance for an enema!
The second was when she had a fall in the night, cutting her head. She refused to go to hospital that night, but they sent her off anyway in the morning, where the cut was treated and she was brought back.
When the cut was healed the Home insisted that because the dressing had been put on in hospital a district nurse had to come to remove the plaster, which she did in 1 minute, having driven how far to get there?
The third was on Friday, when, her ears needing syringing, she had been putting olive oil in them for a few days. The district nurse came and just looked at them and said he' d return next week, but would syringe them one at a time on different days.
She is paying for care in this Home. Why should the NHS be involved with these minor matters? The Home insists that these procedures are demanded by the NHS. This is daftness. Why should anybody beyond the Home ever even know about them?
We both wonder if this is happening on a grand scale. Does anybody know?
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