Re: What is the alternative?
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These people are the first to complain about how the NHS is being left short of funds(it isn't shortage of funds which cripples the NHS, it is the layers of bureaucracy and people who do little to improve patient care but are paid eye watering salaries) Try going to America or Australia and getting treatment for injuries/illness....you have to pay. they will have someone rendering aid, but on the other side of the trolley there will be an administrative assistant taking your insurance/credit card details. Even if you go on the continent...the treatment is not free...so why should it be free to all comers here? It is called the National Health Service not the international health service. It is for the people who have paid into the sytem...anyone else better have travel insurance which covers ill health. The NHS is not rigorous enough in the collection of moeny owed to them for trearment |
Re: What is the alternative?
It is called the National Health Service not the international health service.
It is for the people who have paid into the sytem...anyone else better have travel insurance which covers ill health. that sounds too much like common sense to me margaret. its a dying trait of people nowadays and they try to call it a symplistic solutions. the thing is those at the top do not have any solutions trying to keep everyone happy at the same time. |
Re: What is the alternative?
Today in one of the online articles I have read, it says that very few trusts have a dedicated overseas visitors manager to identify those not entitled to free care.
EVERY trust in the country should have an Overseas Visitors Manager...they would be repsonsible for identifying, billing and chasing these people for payment. we have NO responsibility to treat these patients without charging them....and many f them come here with the prime aim of getting treatment at no cost, because they know they can. |
Re: What is the alternative?
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Many of the problems which are deemed 'insurmountable' are of little interest to those in high places, because they are untouched by these issues...so there is nothing in it for them. They are not inconvenienced by having to wait for their cataracts to be treated...or have a new hip or knee...or just see a GP. I feel pretty damn sure if these issues DID impact on their lives, then there would be a lot more invested in finding solutions. Call me cynical if you like,but that is how I see it. |
Re: What is the alternative?
When I lived in the US you had to produce either a Medical Insurance Card (which they then checked to see what was covered), or a Credit Card which was swiped and as soon as an estimated cost of treatment was known that amount was blocked on to your CC. Of course Identity Cards would allow any hospital to determine whether you needed to provide Health Insurance or a Credit Card.
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Re: What is the alternative?
Identity cards are not necessary to do that.
I have an NHS number and a national insurance number.That should be enough. If no one is checking people's details then it sends out the message that anyone can come and get treatment...many large hospitals in areas where the population is fluid, have no one checking who is entitled to treatment and who isn't. |
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Re: What is the alternative?
If someone has a NI number then they are entitled to treatment as they are not a health tourist visiting purely to get treatment.
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Re: What is the alternative?
I beg to differ on that comment Ma, it has been stated often enough by politicoes & immigration officials that there is a vast divergence between NI numbers issued & immigration numbers. this to my mind highlights the fact that some come here with the aim of getting an NI number (to get free NHS treatment) and to access the available benefits without the intention to work.
Much as I dislike & mistrust Al Beeb, here's one of their articles, it doesn't quite cover the point I'm trying to make but at short notice (and it being 07.30 in the morning here & I'll be heading to work in 10 minutes) it's the best I can offer at present. NI numbers prompt row over 1.2m EU 'immigration gap' - BBC News |
Re: What is the alternative?
I take your point, but that is not the issue that I was posting about.
If someone has a NI number then they can work legally here.(and access services for which they have paid nothing...an which those of us who have contributed over the years, are paying for). Whether they DO work, pay taxes and NI contributions is a whole other story...and maybe the substance for another thread. If they do not have an NI number then they cannot work legally...they will pay nothing in income tax or contribute to the NHS. This is really not the issue that I was posting about. The issue that I was posting about was the fact that someone will come here from another country and avail themselves of NHS care and treatment. I have seen it first hand when I was working. Elderly(and some not so elderly) come to stay with family for a holiday, and while here get surgery or treatment for conditions that, in their home country, they would have to pay for. A couple of years ago a woman who was expecting a multiple birth flew here, had her babies(which were premature and were in neonatal intensive care for quite a while) racked up care that cost us nearly half a million quid(well, no I exaggerate, it was £400,000) and no efforts were made to get that money. That is a large part of the issue. There is no one, in many of the NHS hospitals, charged with the responsibility of seeking out those who should be paying...and even less effort is expended in making sure that they do. Now I have quoted just one incident. How many nurses would that one patients care have paid for? The issue of uncontrolled immigration on ALL public services and the infrastructure of society was not considered when Tony Blair supported multiculturalism...the long term consequences of immigration was not were thought out...and now we pay. It has little effect on the elite...other than the fact that they can employ cheap cleaners, and other domestic staff. They will not be inconvenienced by crowded NHS facilities, a wait for surgery, a wait to see a GP....no, that is you and me Son and the many who are taken for mugs by politicians. |
Re: What is the alternative?
As for EU Nationals...I thought that they were allowed to access NHS care while they were here...And that the cost of their treatment is retrieved from their home country by the NHS.
If I am wrong about this then I feel pretty sure someone will enlighten me. |
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Re: What is the alternative?
I know that the NHS is very lax at chasing the money...because no one is tasked to do it.
Looking at reports, there are not that many hospitals with dedicated staff to do the job. I know that before I retired, a member from the records department would come to the ward to take details from any person the nurses identified as being subject to costs. Private conversations with members of the records team who did this job, make me absolutely sure that very little(if any) of the money(at that time) was actually collected. Yet, when I was involved in a road accident I was sent a bill for £73 pounds for my visit to A&E....this despite the fact that I pay my NI contributions. I paid and was later reimbursed by my insurance company. |
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