Ed's new tactic

[Ch3tan]

I had two grandparents that contracted MRSA under Labour, so if anyone thinks hospitals and the NHS were somehow better under Labour because of some statistics about queuing times, they can fuck right off.

A little money spent with wisdom always does more good than a lot of money spent without any.

 

[ford prefect]

Edit: The massive increase in NHS funding under Labour achieved very little.

I disagree entirely. The NHS has changed beyond all recognition in the time i have worked for them. I'm genuinely sorry that you have had so many bad experiences with the NHS, as I said, they are not perfect, but not quite as bad as you feel they are.

Regardless, I have said my bit, no point in rehashing the same things, so will opt out of this thread I think.

 

[MYstIC G]

I had two grandparents that contracted MRSA under Labour, so if anyone thinks hospitals and the NHS were somehow better under Labour because of some statistics about queuing times, they can fuck right off.

A little money spent with wisdom always does more good than a lot of money spent without any.

Ditto. My grandmother died last January. Just before she died my Mum tried to visit her and was not allowed to see her or even talk to her using a telephone because of an MRSA "outbreak". My grandmother subsequently passed as a result of MRSA despite the whole time my mother and I being told "she's making a full recovery". When I went to visit, nobody seemed to be actively doing anything about said outbreak, frankly it seemed to be business as usual but keep the ward doors locked.

In February last year my Dad had a heart attack. He survived because thankfully he had private medical insurance and was operated on in good time. Upon being discharged from hospital with a set of meds he was told he must see his GP within a week to set up his prescriptions, etc, etc. Upon ringing our local doctors surgery, they basically refused to give him an appointment.

Personally I've had to have a row with NHS staff to get treated at a different location because I didn't want to wait 6 months to have someone tell me that I needed one of my ears syringed before I could have it done.

There is much more to add to this list but I'll spare you all even more boredom and ranting and raving.

So, could we possibly stop the repeated "the NHS is so much better/worse" drum bashing please, it's completely subjective. It's better for some, it's worse for others. When things change it will be better for some, worse for others.

Other than that mini-rant, and entirely agreeing with Gumbo, I'll shut up now and go back to tinkering with my console forums.

 

[Aoami]

Did you know that if you work for McDonalds for 3 years, you get free private medical care?

 

[Gumbo]

My other half is having a small op next week having seen the GP last week. NHS wait 18months to 2 years, luckily out of my middle income, I pay £50 a month for private cover for her and myself. I am under no illusion that the NHS is capable of offering a decent service for all but emergency medicine and having babies. Private insurance is as important to me as water and electricity. It saves me having to experience the inevitable feeling of disappointment which I would have to suffer if I had to rely on the broken NHS.

 

[Wij]

All slightly going off-topic tbh but I'll bite on the disability benefits. I'm sure there's cause for concern amongst many genuine claimants but I know lots of people who have been on one kind of disability benefit or another for most of their lives who seem perfectly fine to me.

A bloke lives up the street from my dad who's been on benefit for 30 years or more with a bad back. When my dad had a load of huge paving slabs lying around he asked if he could have them and then lugged them all home himself in an afternoon. I couldn't have lifted them.

One anecdote is not evidence of a sensible policy I know but some cases need review.

It begins...

BBC News - Incapacity benefit crackdown begins after pilot scheme

 

[Raven]

It's about time too. I know someone who has fuck all wrong with him but is "on the sick" the usual ohhh, I have a bad back. No real reason why he couldn't get an office job or something though. I used to work with someone who had a wonky spine ffs, she could barely walk half the time but still made it into work.

 

[rynnor]

I wonder if they will use it as an opportunity to marginalise the mentally ill - things like severe depression can be extremely crippling but are tough to prove - wonder how long till we get the first suicides from this process?