Yet another eventful day full of hospital visits!!!

[GarethB]

According to the internet the company I work for in 2004 had 3400 emplyees in the UK and did £630 million in sales.

Globally they employed 67000 people spread over 60 countries and world wide sales were just over $20 BILLION

This is just the 2004 figures and we improved on last year which is why President Bush gave is speach regarding the US becoming less relient on oil from the company head quarters last week.

I earn a pittance compared to that, less than 0.0001% before tax

This may be a case of corperate politics and dinasaurs that are hard to get them to change.

[jayuk]

Gareth

So it seems you do work for a corporate....,..I find it very odd that in this case things havent happened to your favour! But as you say, the NHS in your area seems to be top notch!..so thats a plus!

Per - Health is Public Funded...but in many areas it simply is not good enough, with more emphasis on micro management, bad budgeting, poor patient care, and increaing negligence! However, this is NOT a relfection of the Medical Staff AT ALL! its how the care is delivered!

Jay

[Andrew MacLean]

Per.

In the UK we are all covered by the National Health Service. Some people opt out of the provision of the NHS, mostly in order to ahve a more comfortable time in any hospitals, and better attention when undergoing pre- and post operative care.

Sometimes this works. Sometimes it would be better to stick with the provisions of the NHS.

I have no private medical insurance, but my care both in the contact lens clinics operated by the NHS and the surgery provided by the NHS has been absolutely exemplary.

I never paid more than £40 for any lens. If lenses did not suit me I paid nothing, and I never paid for a consultation for contact lenses.

Neither do I pay anything for after care clinics, nor do I pay for time spent in hospital.

This may raise a question in your mind as to why people in the UK pay anything to BUPA OF Axa PPP. Sometimes employers carry additional health insurance so that they can have more flexibility about when their key personnel are away from work, but in the end it all comes down to choice.

It may bery well be that some parts of the UK are not as well provided for as Greater Glasgow.

Andrew

[Sweet]

Gareth i am so sorry to read of your ordeal but i hope that the chinese helped!

People mainly pay for operations because they can be seen quicker and get the consultant they want rather than being on a long waiting list and then having follow ups with different people.

I don't have health insurance and would never pay for any myself as i know that when i need it i won't be covered! Luckily i work in the NHS so if i am ill i can wander in and be seen with some of the staff i work with. To be honest though apart from eye problems i think i would be able to cover most else myself!

Sweet X x X

[John Smith]

I'm not that sure I'd really want to be treated by my colleagues... but then again, they're not medically trained

[Rob Armstrong]

People in the UK can use the National Health Service (NHS) for free, as they all pay into it via National Insurance contributions taken from their wages.

But due to the NHS funding cut backs in the past, which helped lead to longer waiting lists, rival "private" medical services emerged (along with medical insurance schemes) primarily competing on the basis of being able to offer much shorter waiting times for appointments and operations for those who were prepared to pay.

Large firms often provide private medical insurance for their employees as it is deemed more cost effective to pay for their private medical treatment and get them back in work than off sick for an extended period while on an NHS waiting list.

(I hope I've managed to answer that contentious issue in a politically neutral way!).

Rob.

(EDIT: I spent so long typing that post that several people beat me to it!)

[Andrew MacLean]

There you go, Rob

There is a question about the access of "medicine for profit" entrenpreneurs to the public supply of things like donated blood etc. I think that jayuk expressed concern about this in another string.

Still, your description of the situation in the UK is both accurate and impartial. Well done!

Andrew