NHS Scotland discusses having wealthy pay for treatment

My daughter needed an operation on her foot. Several hundred pounds got her a consultation within the week with a surgeon who offered us the following options.

We could have had the operation done at St Joseph’s at any day we chose, at a cost of well over ten grand. This is a private hospital originally opened by the Catholic Church but now bought out by BUPA/Spire.

We could have the operation done by the same consultant within SIX WEEKS ABSOLUTELY FREE under the Welsh NHS at either The Royal Gwent or Nevill Hall NHS Hospitals, the money I paid was to get her seen by the consultant ahead of the thousands on the NHS waiting list. This is the normal way most affordable health insurance sim the UK work, pushing you to the top of the waiting list.

In our case we actually had a third option. The Welsh NHS is such a train wreck ENGLISH NHS Trusts near the Welsh border have quite delIberately used money from prescription charges and car parking to subsidise the construction of day surgery and drop in minor injury units, there is one a few miles north of the M32 / M4 junction. These offer NHS surgical facilities for minor, non trauma procedures to any GP with a budget.

The English NHS built one in Bristol and another near Chester to deliberately tout for business from Welsh NHS GP’s who would otherwise wait years for the patients on their practice to be seen, at huge additional cost in practice time and prescription funding while the condition deteriorates.

We opted for Jennifer to have the surgery in the Bristol unit. It was scheduled and performed about three weeks after I paid the consultation fee, and everything other than that fee was covered by the NHS.

This was before COVID.

In my own case, after a seriously nasty throat infection required an emergency tonsillectomy I was offered - and accepted - one of the “pay beds” in the Royal Gwent. This was basically a bed in a small side room rather than the ward. It let me get some work done while I was waiting for the surgeon to do his thing.

The cost was barely more than an overnight stay at the Holiday Inn.

In fact, I didn’t get charged for the pre-op use of it because just after I came round after the op, and they wheeled me back they had a bit of a flap needing to find a space to put someone who needed a load of auxiliary gear, monitors etc and when I heard that I told the nurse to chuck me onto the ordinary ward and give the side room to this chap and all his extra gear.

Now speaking of fuckwits.  I take it you are not going to correct this. Was your glazed eyes corrected as a bonus as well. 

945,072 people waited more than 12 hours in England A&E departments in 2021-22. That’s 48 times larger than the figure for Scotland 19,667, Scottish nurse average pay is £36,631 in England £33,384.

I await with bated breath.  What was that  about fuckwits

It is a comment on the standard of care in Scotch Hospitals. Most Scots take their chances and stay away.

and extremely devious of labour. Dont forget much of the figures didnt show up on brown and blairs books , as the payments were kicked into the long grass for future governments to pay . Good way of labour avoiding the old tax and spend label , but as ever with that party someone somewhere has to foot the bill for their profligacy.