image doctor

The doc has not been to the doctors for about 6 years, but I am reliably informed that some people go whenever their kids cough or they wake up and feel crap.

No wonder we have to wait weeks for an appointment.

Whats that all about?

The Zohan

My mother goes quite regularly, she is 82 and has high blood pressure along with eyesight problems. I'll ask he not to go so much if this will help. In all fairness both she and my father (who is dead now so dont't worry will not be a burden) paid in all of their working lives so have some entitlement to use the NHS.

Perhaps if we did not have so many other drains on our doctors and NHS and the govenrment funded it correctly then it might just work.

See this thread for an example - NHS 'tourists'
http://www.scoobynet.co.uk/bbs/thread.asp?threadid=237933



[Edited by Paul Habgood - 8/13/2003 9:24:09 AM]

image doctor

It's not the 82 year olds I am talking about.

Its Waynetta in her argos jewelry taking baby Kylie down beacuase she coughed during the night.

id

The Zohan

Quote
"but I am reliably informed that some people go whenever their kids cough or they wake up and feel crap"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Your wording is a bit ambiguous, thanks for clearing it up.

grovesy

I hadn't been for years, done my arm in at the Gym so I thought I would get back some of my hard earned tax money. Got there and the Doc said rest it.... cheers mate aint been back since (4years)

TelBoy

ID - you got kids?

Spudgun VI

i think old folks can go as often as they like, after all they paid for the nhs too.

however...

i think retired people, and people who dont work should only be seen after 9.30 and before 5pm, thereby allowing people who work the chance to be seen without having to take a day off.
its hard these days to get a lunchbreak, let alone time off for visits to doctors, so why dont surgerys introduce this system?
the junkies still get their methadone, waynetta still gets kylies snotty nose looked at, and hard working folks dont get grief for taking a day off

Andy486

The time it takes me to get an appointment I'm normally feeling better. Reckon the system is set up this way on purpose.

image doctor

Tel - Yes thanks

id - a father

*Sonic*

My old surgery used to have a 3 week waiting list for appointments, pretty much regardless of your ailments

I was involved in an RTA, and needed my injuries looking at and recording at the docs, they told me appointment in 3 weeks

So i gave up in the end, and dont bother, ive since moved, and havent even registered with a docs now

the only other times I have been to the docs, ive been given Amoxycillin, which is useless as I am immune to it now, and it no longer has any effect

TelBoy

Ok, so you'll know how distressing it can be if your kids have a problem, can't tell you what it is (especially if they're too young), and you don't know what to do for the best, right?

NACRO

Image Doctor-go and pay for a private consultation instead. Then you beat the Q.

Think of the money you pay for the NHS as a a charitable donation for those that can't afford healthcare rather than a service you can actually use.

The Zohan

Our 6-month-old daughter has bad eczema, we have been to the doctors on several occasions and had differing treatments none of which clear it up, and we had to insist to see a specialist. We felt we where wasting our time along with the doctors time who, where unable to sort it out.

We got a letter from our Hospital stating that the appointment would be arranged for 18 weeks time!

In the mean time we have to go back to the doctors for repeat prescriptions etc.

My mother waited 18 month to have a cataract op on one eye, she is still waiting to get the other eye done some 24 months later.


I am sure this is not unusual by any means.


[Edited by Paul Habgood - 8/13/2003 8:41:01 AM]

Gordo

haha, and everyone believed the New Labour lies - makes you wonder what they're hosing your taxes away on, doesn't it?

image doctor

I would like to think as a parent I know when my child has a cough or another more serious illness.

TelBoy

True, as would i. But not everyone has their fair measure of common sense. How could you screen the time-wasters? It would be almost impossible to do wouldn't it, so long as the NHS is free...?

image doctor

And it's the ones without common sense I am reffering to.

There appear to be an awful lot of them about.

Just like a dentist it's £5 a visit, free for pensioners & people with long term illness.

id - vote me for president, or at least health minister

King RA

Scrap the NHS, thats what I say.

weapon69

Scrap the NHS? Then we'd be really screwed!

TelBoy

Yeah i know, but what to do? £5 a visit and discourage them from going, possibly leading to greater problems from non-treatment? The dentist is different cos people will pay if their teeth start to hurt, but penalising the poor from medical treatment is a whole other ballgame i reckon.

As has been mentioned, there's always private healthcare..!

image doctor

Don't you need to see a doctor before you can go private.

id

image doctor

So good I said it twice

id

[Edited by image doctor - 8/13/2003 9:04:02 AM]

Cupramax

<rant mode>

Controversial I know, but perhaps if the government stopped fannying around, poo pooing to asylum seekers every whim we might have enough resources left to sort the UK's problems out before we get involved in sorting everyone elses. I am sick of reading about people swanning into this country, getting free health consultations when they arrive, being homed and fed etc etc when the UK's needs aren't being sorted.

My mother is currently on a nine month waiting list to have a knee replacement and virtually had to bully her GP into the referall. She is so bad she can hardly get up a flight of stairs...

<rant mode off>

rik1471

That sounds like Avi,

He's known at work as "Sicknote" - 6 periods of sickness in 12 months.

Off to the doctors with a runny nose

AND THAT'S THE TRUTH.

SJ_Skyline

Scraping the NHS is an interesting point.

Part of me thinks good god, how much money would be saved that could be put into law enforcement, education and the transport system to make them all so much better.

The other part of me thinks how on earth could one consider scrapping it? No government would ever get elected on the policy that they would scrap it and no government would ever get re-eclected if they did scrap it.

I'm keenly watching the situation in Germany where they are looking at doing just this. Lets see how that pans out!


(firmly sitting on the fence on this one!)

Rich

rik1471

That sounds like Avi,

He's known at work as "Sicknote" - 6 periods of sickness in 12 months.

Off to the doctors with a runny nose

AND THAT'S THE TRUTH.

TelBoy

Is this National Double Posting Day too...??!!

Little Miss WRX

Asthma means I can't escape seeing the doctor, if I don't go for regular check ups to see how my medication is doing, I usually end up going because my asthma has decided it wants to be noticed.

ozzy

Well sort of. What you need is to be referred to them by your Doctor. I waited 18mths for an appointment for a sports injury. Not life threatening, but it stopped my career in the Marines dead in it's tracks. I went private and had an appointment in 2 days and the op one week later. OK it cost me £1500, but it cured my problem. I needed my Docs referral, but that was a 10min phone call and a simple letter so didn't hold anything back.

Stefan

fast bloke

So you go to the doc who will tell you it is a viral thing and come back in three days if it hasn't cleared up

Paul - Have you tried Elocon for the eczema? We went through the same thing - one appointment evey two weeks for a year. Eventually we saw a different doc cos the 'normal' one was golfing all week. The new doc gave us elocon which cleared the worst of it in a few days. Now used occasionally (once every couple of weeks) if there is a flare up.
Asked the first doc why he never tried Elocon and after he looked it up in his magic doctors book he said that long term use can be bad for the skin.....