nhs my ar*e

[Andy FZS]

I don't meen to criticise the nhs  but I do wonder what level of care I would get elsewhere for the amount of Nat insurance I pay each month. I know it is just another tax a bit like how good would the roads be if all the ved was spent on them.

[bri h]

i dont know for sure but i believe in france people take out private insurance then if the worst happens the government pays half and the insurance pays half. maybe our brother foccers that live across le mar can put me straight but i think its good value for money.

[VNA]

I don't meen to criticise the nhs  but I do wonder what level of care I would get elsewhere for the amount of Nat insurance I pay each month.

See the USA.  Excellent if you have loads of dosh.  If you don't, or you get something nasty that requires lots of treatment then you might die.

It's not just the NHS.  With two parents suffering dementia and having a wee crises at the mo, well I very much appreciate the support I am getting from not only the NHS but our social services. 

It's a simple matter of whether or not you believe in community or not.  I do.

People need to wake up and reject the neo liberal privatise all fuck the working man agenda.  It's a con. 

[JoeRock]

I truly believe that its time to kick our outmoded political system into touch and introduce great brittain plc where as tax paying shareholders we get to vote in a chairman and board of directors If they do a good job then they should be rewarded, if they do a poor job they should be replaced.

So in essence, how we vote now?

[bri h]

buggered if i know joe as i say i dont think any of them will do me any favours. maybe give a bit with one hand and take a bit more with the other. yes i realy am that cynical.i  voted for the green party last local election time, they had no real chance but i thouprobablyght it wrong not to vote at all.probably not my best ever move as my catalitic thing accidently fell out when i changed my exhaust.

[Dave48]

wholeheartedly agree vna. ive dried my eyes and got over not being important enough crap i can still throw my leg over the bike so lifes not to shabby. Trouble is im on my high horse about this fundin malarky now. Ever since the champange socialist took over the labour party we have effectively become a one party state. whatever colour rosette they wear they are self serving ex public school millionairs to a man.Its not much of a democracy when you can only vote for the same crap from any of them including ukip. I truly believe that its time to kick our outmoded political system into touch and introduce great brittain plc where as tax paying shareholders we get to vote in a chairman and board of directors If they do a good job then they should be rewarded, if they do a poor job they should be replaced.

On the face of it I like the sound of GB PLC with elected chairperson & board of directors. However...... Wouldnt we end up with a foreign owned "company" like some of our strategic assets & utilities...Oh hang on a minute... Who does own our green & pleasant land!
Watched a program on TV recently about housing in London-apparently £10 million isnt unreasonable for a large house. So when all the reasonably priced housing has been snapped up for development what will happen to all the indigent Londoners working to service the needs of these oil sheiks, Russian plutocrats etc?
Where will the nurses, firemen,ambulance drivers in fact anyone on less than £50-£100k per annum might as well forget owning their own flat/house.
Of course this hasnt happened overnight-it all started with Thatcher & her cronies selling off the family silver- A few good (for some yuppies) years with unlimited growth of credit/lending using North Sea Oil  reserves as "guarantor" for the process.
Personally, I believe we are "f****d as a nation and the situation is just one giant scramble to the top of the pile.
Where does our "wealth" come from nowadays-I dont have a clue.
The only hope for change rests with the electorate-What would happen if  the majority voted Green or maybe noone voted at all-would we be stuck with these chinless wonders for ever? Theres no choice at present as already said Its Tory Boy, Pretend Tory Boy, New Tory Boy or Pretend Tory Boy.
Are these are only options in an electorate of  possibly 40 million :eek

[lew600fazer]

How come we have gone from Bri H cannot get a hernia operation. To ripping our political leaders and political system a new arsehole.
One thing that should be made law is that it is compulsory to vote at local and General elections, if you do not support any party you put your x in a box that says i do not support any party. When that is done then people cannot moan as much.

Just think about this, if people went to the Chemists and bought Lemsip or the like every time they sneeze or some deep heat rub if they have a wee twinge in the back instead of trying to get an appointment at the doctors or rolling up to the local A&E this simple action would take a tremendous pressure of the NHS

I believe in France most folk have what is known as a Mutuelle a health insurance policy, when you go to the doctor you pay the doctor and claim it back from the Mutuelle.

My mother and mother inlaw were habitual abusers of the NHS, yes both had health problems and were on medication, but regardless how they felt they would do there best to try and get an appointment with the doctor at least once a weekl

I really am surprised that have not been more Harold Shipmans.

People really should and can do a lot more to help themselves. Someone mentioned that while they were at an A&E a lot of old people were being moved around , something about lack of care in the community, again maybe some family members need to step up to the plate and care for their own elderly . 

[midden]

I walked in unanounced to St Thomas hospital at 7pm one evening after some years of having hernia which the GP didn't think was a concern. By 11pm I was in theatre being operated. I then had 3 days of good company, hospital food and a visit the their cinema   

[Frosties]

I walked in unanounced to St Thomas hospital at 7pm one evening after some years of having hernia which the GP didn't think was a concern. By 11pm I was in theatre being operated. I then had 3 days of good company, hospital food and a visit the their cinema 

3 feckin days you lazy shite. That's where the friggin money is going.....oh and your movie & pop corn.  :lol

[taylor]

good old aneurin bevan, another Tredegar lad done well, and only a year ago they where going to knock down the birthplace of the nhs. sad

[VNA]

One thing that should be made law is that it is compulsory to vote at local and General elections, if you do not support any party you put your x in a box that says i do not support any party. When that is done then people cannot moan as much.

Well firstly, people need to get past the idea that democracy is about voting once every 4 or 5 years.  Democracy works every day.

And as for your idea Lew, as soon as you make it law to vote, well I guarantee you that I and a million plus or so others will refuse to vote.  What you gonna do then?

Someone mentioned that while they were at an A&E a lot of old people were being moved around , something about lack of care in the community, again maybe some family members need to step up to the plate and care for their own elderly . 

I've got two parents with dementia Lew.  They have stubbornly refused all the help that is out there and available to them.  So the wheels have fallen off.  I'm now off long term sick caring for my parents while I also get care in place that they need so I can go back to work.

People get old Lew and they start to fall apart.  Are you suggesting I give up my job and sell my house to care 24/7 for my parents?

In actual fact in Scotland there is plenty of provision for care in the community as well as if required residential care.

You know maybe if we got the big multi-national companies to pay the tax that they are supposed to.  Perhaps if we stopped the rich from sponging off the poor, perhaps if we stopped subsidising rich companies with in work benefits, perhaps if we introduced a living wage.  Maybe if we stopped spending billions on nuclear weapons and fighting illegal immoral wars whilst subsidising our bloody arms industry we might just be able to care for the vulnerable and needy in our society.

This won't be fixed by a general election Lew.  Frankly yes it's a waste of time for most people in most constituencies voting, as you are effectively pissing into the wind. 

To counter your suggestion of compulsory voting, perhaps a mass movement rejecting our current 'democracy' and getting the vast majority of people to refuse to vote would be more effective.

Meanwhile I want another referendum :lol  The UK is sinking.

[lew600fazer]

VNA, that is exactly why I live in Spain, the €euro is fecked and mean while my British pension is going up in value day by day, long may it last. I can ride my FZ out here 300 days a year if I want to, lets face why ride in the rain.Today I paid €1.16 for a litre for petrol and diesel is down to less than a €euro a litre. I did buy a half decent bottle of scotch today Ballintines €9.75, toyed with the J&B at €9.30. William Lawsons is on offer at €6.85.
You have your Scottish referendum if you want to, just promise though that you will not put the price of Scotch up.
Sorry about your parents condition that is not an easy illness to live with either for them or family, hopefully one day we can find away to cure this.

[VNA]

VNA, that is exactly why I live in Spain, the €euro is fecked and mean while my British pension is going up in value day by day, long may it last. I can ride my FZ out here 300 days a year if I want to, lets face why ride in the rain.Today I paid €1.16 for a litre for petrol and diesel is down to less than a €euro a litre. I did buy a half decent bottle of scotch today Ballintines €9.75, toyed with the J&B at €9.30. William Lawsons is on offer at €6.85.

Lew you are very fortunate.  But why don't you ask some of the young Spanish folks how they feel about living Spain.  You'll find plenty of young Spaniards enjoying cold breeze and drizzle in Scotland.

I think in time with some forms of Dementia we may find ways of slowing or stopping the damage, we already are with Alzheimer's.  But it would also mean massive screening programmes.  But then again at the end of the day there never will be a cure for old age - we will all die. 

I've seen folks at my work try to take dementia head on, trying to care for their parents themselves whilst working full time.  It always ends in tears.

The other thing I have learned is about relationships.  If I try and get my Dad up in the morning (at the moment in the middle of winter he wants to stay in bed all day, which then results in him being up all night, which in turn drives my mother spare - which means my phone rings at 02.30 when I'm trying to get some sleep before going to work) he'll just tell me to piss off.  He's not going to be told by his big brother when to get up out of bed (yes apparently I'm a 90 year old Welsh man whom died three years ago).  But with the right care worker he'll get up nae bother and with a big smile on his face.

Meanwhile the rich elite who pay no tax and run everything in this country have no need for the NHS, other than that is to try and make even more money out of it (that's why they are privatising  it) - they have all private health care - round the clock if they want - all they could ever wish for.

You have your Scottish referendum if you want to, just promise though that you will not put the price of Scotch up.

Hopefully we will, and this time we will win.  Yes that means moderate price rises in Scottish Whisky for export.  Why?  Cos Scottish Whisky is largely foreign owned, that means the profit goes straight out of the country (as it does increasingly with energy, social services and increasingly the nhs), so a small export tax will be required in order that all Scots get the benefit of our billion pound whisky industry. 

Stock up while you can Lew :lol

[lew600fazer]

Very true , plenty of unemployment here in Spain and the rest of western Europe. But sadly I am at that stage of my life that selfishly I only look out for my own family.Hopefully when I have had my days, and my wife has had hers we have already put in place measures and any other legal fiddle that ensures what we leave the kids goes to them with only the minimum in Taxes going to the state.
Hopefully my whiskey consumption will help to keep a few Irish and Scottish folk gainfully employed. :lol

[maddog04]

I really am surprised that have not been more Harold Shipmans.

:eek FFS Lew, was Hitler on yer xmas card list too?