Services that you cannot access despite being entitled

[Red9zero]

loafer123 said:

I suppose the point is that, if you want an appointment convenient to you, with plenty of time and relaxed and efficient tests, you can choose to go private.

FWIW, I would give additional tax benefits on going private as the quickest and easiest way of getting efficient money into the healthcare provision in the UK, whilst taking pressure off the NHS.

Going private works for general medical issues. In fact I have used them many times. Going private dental in our area means you can get an appointment in 6 months rather than 12, which is still unacceptable. You can see why people take the risk of going abroad for treatment.

[Flooble]

loafer123 said:

I suppose the point is that, if you want an appointment convenient to you, with plenty of time and relaxed and efficient tests, you can choose to go private.

FWIW, I would give additional tax benefits on going private as the quickest and easiest way of getting efficient money into the healthcare provision in the UK, whilst taking pressure off the NHS.

Amusingly you actually get taxed on paying for private health insurance. So you, in a sense, are paying three times. Once for the NHS that is not available, once for the private appointment and once for the tax on the private premium.

[Cold]

I haven't required the services of the NHS (or any health service) for well over 30 years and must admit, as I age and am starting to look at my (previously un-thought-of) mortality I am not relishing the idea of becoming infirm and having to rely on the either the NHS or private establishments for care or treatment.
I suspect the complete disinterest or sense of urgency the health system has in a frail and medically needy old man will only hasten my demise. Small mercies, I suppose.

[Randy Winkman]

Sheepshanks said:

Randy Winkman said:

I'm not sure what private dentistry would give me that NHS doesn't. I get an appointment when I want, I trust my dentist and he does the treatment that's needed and it always does the job. It isn't super-cheap but if I went private wouldn't I get the same for even more money?

I live on the edge of SE London by the way and appreciate I might just be lucky with both my location and the type of treatment I've needed.

In our case it gets you the dentist herself coming to get get you from the waiting room!

To be fair, I did have my one and only crown fall off on a Saturday afternoon a few years ago - the Saturday before Christmas Day was on the Monday. Called the private patients emergency number, she came into the surgery on Sunday morning and replaced it. It would have messed up my Christmas without that.

I don't get your comment about it not being super-cheap - if it's NHS then you should be paying the NHS fee..

I guess you normally only hear of problems, but it does sound like you're lucky to some extent in having on-demand access to NHS dentistry,

Yes I pay the NHS fees. A few years ago one of my molars fell apart and rather than just have it taken out I had a repair done that cost a few hundred quid because it was "cosmetic". I'm just making the point that even in the UK, dentistry isn't that cheap on the NHS so it isn't a choice of "pay or don't pay" for people in work. But I'm still praising the NHS for the way they look after my teeth.