Sneaky cut-backs in the Health Service...
 

My parents live in Tenerife. Yesterday evening I was talking to my Mother - they'd been to the Docs to get my Dad's prescription for his Asthma medication as per every 2 months. When they got to the Chemists they found that the computerised system no longer accepted his medication as "free" which it has always been with it being a chronic condition. They went back to the Docs and then the Chemists and no-one seemed to know why . In the end it turns out that because of Spanish government cut-backs they now have to pay -also his blood presuure pills had to be paid for. The Asthma inhalers he uses cost over 50 euros each per month...
Same thing happened to me here in Italy - 2 weeks ago i went to the Asthma clinic for my 3 monthly check-up and found I had to pay for all treatment and check-ups from now on - the Specialist didn't know and it was only the computerised system which refused my exemption. Italian cutbacks are to blame. (Mr Berlusconi obviously needs a bit more cash for entertaining "Escorts" at the tax-payers expense.)
Then this morning i saw on SKY news that there was a recommendation to stop giving medication to terminal cancer patients if its only effect is to prolong life! (?) What else could it do if they are "Terminal"?:rolleyes::mad:
The powers that be seem to be losing the plot - is the same happening to your prescription medicine?

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I have had free NHS chiropody for 8 years until 2 months ago.
At my last appointment the chiropodist questioned me about my health and decided that, because I do not have any prescription meds (I use herbal medicine) then I was 'healthy', and due to cut backs I no longer qualified for the service.

I have deformed feet and have had bone surgery in the past, and so qualified for NHS made to measure shoes.

I suspect that only diabetics and persons with poor blood circulation will continue to qualify. I deduced this from her line of questioning.

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trying to swap from a named medicine to the generic version in some cases ..

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Sorry if I am being a bit slow here but are you complaining about cutbacks in Spanish and Italian health service or ours in the UK?

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she's telling us about the cutbacks in the spanish and italian health service ... and is asking if the same is happening here ....

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cant you just accept the medicine and bin it therefore qualifying you for the tratment you need

if you have found alternative treatment that works for you it should not disqualify you .I assume you have paid into the system unlike the hundreds of thousands that come here to abuse our NHS system ?

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I think both....there has been news from Karol Sikora...a cancer specialist who considers that it is a waste of money to try and prolong life in patients who are considered to be suffering from Terminal Cancer.
And ex pats are reporting that they are having to pay for prescriptions which were previously free.

To be honest I think all health providers are struggling with finances at present....they are expected to make savings on their budgets to satisfy some of the government cutbacks in public service finance....many of the PCTs are crippled by payback to PFI schemes too.
There was one transgender patient in the paper last night who has been refused breast augmentation........I don't think PCTs can afford such things....if they can refuse a little girl life saving treatment for cancer, Ok, I know they did a U turn, but to me, the life saving treatment has to come first.

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LOL, Accyman, trust you.

Don't think Margaret's beliefs in medical drugs and her inability to lie would allow her to do this. :D Sorry if being presumptuous, Margaret.

When I was in Spain last week, one of my friends was talking about the huge dept that the Spanish Government owed the Pharmaceutical companies and how they were going to withdraw their supply to Spain.

This is very vague I know, and have no further details.

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i suppose we could boost funds if we stopped giving the entire population of wales free prescriptions regardless if working or not at the expense of the NHS.

Pretty keen on independence from England but arnt yet throwing the free meds back in our faces ;)

not sure how it works in scotland so cant comment

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Mrs P was correct with her anticipation of my reply.

When I last saw the doc about three years ago he prescribed an inhaler which I was destined to use daily forever.

I used it for 5 weeks until I found that a clinical trial in India had concluded that the drug increased the risk of heart disease and stroke by 50%. I binned it and haven't been to the doc since.

So in a way our NHS lets you choose what to die of:rolleyes:
I have learn to cope with 'breathless on exertion' by not exerting myself:D
...and use Lomatium root tincture to control respiratory infections.

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iv just been taken off diclofenic by my GP as it has come to light that long term users are put at high risk of a stroke.

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Our docs just aren't kept up to date.
Here is a report on Spiriva which was prescribed for me
MedWire News - Respiratory - Common COPD treatment linked to increased cardiovascular deaths
...and the herb which helps me
Lomatium dissectum as an anti-viral and anti-bacterial herbal medicine."

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im just going to the docs now to pick up a prescription for that and cocodomol .. :eek:

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lol note the phrase long term users ;)

i was on it for years

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the pharma industries are vast and generate huge profits by making Doctors think that there is a prescription for every ill.

And don't jump on me and tell me that you would not be alive but for modern meds, as I am quite well aware that some people do need medications to keep them going...diabetics for instance....they would die without insulin...however, I do feel that some people do not feel that they have had a good consultation with their GP unless they come away with a prescription for something.

I avoid the doctor like the plague........I do not want my elderly(!) status to be medicalised....and I am definitely against the 'one size fit all' type of medicating that is forever being advocated for the over 55's.

In fact, there are many medicines out there, being used daily, that have only ever been tested on men.....current thoughts are, that these may not be as suitable for women as was once thought.

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I still receive this service Margaret and I've been reassessed

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Has most of you on here know, I'm on a huge drugs regime and have been for many years, and I guess that if I didn't take this medication or had decided to stop taking it, I certainly wouldn't be writing this post now. My drug regime is checked every 12 months by my consultant and is altered accordingly, although its only tweaked very slightly these days

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John, I do appreciate that you are one of the folk who do need the medications to keep you going, but I am aware that drugs company's promote drugs to GP's with a range of freebies(or at least they did...seminars in warm sunny places, with a few rounds of Golf tacked on).......this is lucrative and ensures that the company's profile remains high.... Many drugs have side effects that require other drugs to control them...which also have side effects for some people.......requiring still further medications.
Before you know it you need two suitcases to get your medications home....and a wardrobe to keep them in........Yes, Ok, perhaps I ambeing a bit fly here......but the drug companies really do have a lot of clout.

Please Lord, let me stay healthy....... is my ever abiding prayer.

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Life is full of uncertainty ...you can't say from one moment to the next if your genetic make-up will let you down. I have inherited the Asthma which is rife on my dad's side of the family -my medication is not optional. Last year i had bronchitis twice, once it degenerated into Pneumonia with hospitalization. As i was picking up I went down with 'Flu again.
- what worries me is that we are heading towards a US style system where only the rich or those in work can afford treatment -for those with chronic illness there's a great burden -physically in the first place but economically also. We are supposed to part of a great modern civilisation...is this the beginning of a decline and then a fall i wonder?

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Can't speak for other countries, but I think the NHS might be in a better shape if the last government hadn't wasted eyewateringly huge amounts of money on worthless projects. A prime example is the IT program - the largest of its kind ever - which cost over £12 billion and has now been abandoned because it's a waste of time. £12 billion - just think what that could've bought if it had been spent wisely. And that's just one of a whole avalanche of unwise NHS spending projects instigated in the pursuit of headline-grabbing spin to make the odious Blair creature and his cronies look good.

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I still dont understand what you are saying. When you say we are heading towards a US style system do you mean in you in Italy or us in the UK?

What is the system in Italy? Do people pay for treatment or is it like in the UK.

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Pretty much the same everywhere i think - cutbacks are hitting through Europe- not made pubblic -when you have to go for your usual prescriptions -there's a surprise waiting...the vulnerable are made to pay for being "a weight " on the rest of society...:(

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I don't appear to be having a problem when I go to collect my prescription or wish to make an appointment to see my GP

My lil girl went to hospital today for an ENT follow up after having grommits and was not charged for the consultation.

Maybe you have been away from England to long, everything is rosy with the NHS :D

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I actually think the main problem is the repeat prescription Margaret, I put in a repeat prescription ever month, but before I do I check which drugs I actually need any one particular month, some I need to order every month without fail, because I order every 28 days other drugs can build up so I can cross them of occasionally. But I know for a fact that a lot of people (especially elderly patients) send in a repeat and order everything come what may. I know when my Mother died she had about 3 months supply of Gaviscon (it was obtained on prescription then) but as weave discussed on here before you can't return them to the chemist so its waste which must cost the NHS millions or pounds a year

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I know a couple who emigrated to America a few years ago, they were both in pretty good health and were sponsored by their daughter who is a naturalised American. Sadly one of them started with a mental disorder and spent a lot of time in hospital until the insurance wouldn't cover the treatment, they are returning to the UK next week, their American dream over

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Yes you are right John.
When they broke up the old lady's home nest door she had 2 drawers full of unused prescription meds because the Chemist didn't wait the full 28 days between deliveries....these all had to be thrown away. She didn't cross off the medications that she didn't need.

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i can actually beat you on that ... was told off my doc last week do not take the diazapam for more than 3 days .. 1 3 times a day .. so that equals 9 ..... when i picked the prescription up .... i received 28 of em ... still to take them back yet ..

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I have been told that lots of meds aren't tested on women because the pain threshold and the the effects of the meds vary depending on where the lady in question is during "the month", if you get my meaning!
Makes sense to me .

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Problem with the NHS is, they seem to cutting in the wrong places. There are countless layers of management, bureaucracy, red tape, ethnic awareness courses and all manner of fripperies that should be cut back. The government don't seem to have the ability to do it and, of course, the pen pushers are very skilled at protecting their own positions, if nothing else.

As for the likes of Spain and Italy, I would like to see them cutting right back to the bone on their health service, welfare state and anything else. Anything, just as long as they don't have to come begging for bail outs which we then have to help fund via the IMF. Due to a combination of the world financial situation and the willful wastefulness of the last government, we are now in financial dire straits. Other countries like Greece, Portugal, Italy and Spain are in an even worse position, because they've been living beyond their means on an even grander scale than us. Why should we bail them out when we are trying to pay our own debt off?

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That is true Lindsay....but the researchers are realising that this has been a wrong approach.
Women react differently to men with many drugs because they are different.
Just because something works well for a man doesn't always mean it will have the same effects on a woman.
I have been left the NHS for 9years.......I went to a seminar run by Astra Zeneca........ooh, it must be nearly 15 years ago now, and the researchers were aware of that fact as long ago as that. I don't know if much is being done about this.....but surely it should be.

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I just can't understand the "we can't afford it argument" ... In a rich country such as the UK, publicly funded health care should be a right, not a privelege. That's how we feel over here ... sure, we pay a few cents more tax on a litre of gas, on a pack of smokes, on a bottle of booze; but what the hell, it's sure worth it when you get sick.

The reason that the tories can't win in Ontario, is that they screwed around with health care last time they were in power. With the general election only days away the tories are tied with the Liberal party in the polls. But they are facing a two term party that is losing popularity, and a premier that few like ... they should have won this election in a romp. But no, it looks like a minority government coming up:alright: And it's about health care ... the Liberals are not slow to remind voters that the tories closed hospitals, cut back on funding for nursing and medical schools ... in gerneral, really screwed things up. And much as they dislike the Liberals, they don't trust the tories. Looks like the NDP (Labour) could hold the balance of power.:D

From what I read, I sense that the UK tories are facing a similar problem: they no doubt would dearly love to Americanize British medical care; but they daren't ... at least they daren't go too far too fast.

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The only problem there Wyn is if these countries cut back on their health care, where will they come, to the land of milk and honey and do gooders who will fight for their rights to get treatment here not now afforded to them in their own hard pressed country;) on legal aide of course:rolleyes:

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Well, some of 'em would. However, when the government start taking advice from me, they'll withdraw from the EU, so there won't be freedom of movement from other European countries and that situation won't apply. ;)

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I'll pass your thoughts onto Call Me Dave, Wyn:rolleyes:

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Beware the Greeks - and this time they won't even be bearing gifts.

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And they won't even use a Trojan Horse either Tealeaf they just walk in:(

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I have read that the origin of the Greek financial problems is the failure of tax collection.
It seems that income tax avoidance is a way of life there.

So don't be gleeful that civil service jobs are cut - it could result in increased tax avoidance here.

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Margaret there weren't to many forced redundancies at HM Revenue and Customs, as the staff have been bailing out in their droves for years, my Daughter couldn't get out fast enough together with lots of her colleges, the reason, they were no longer tax inspector more like social security specialists