NHS safe in whose hands?

[expat]

“No society can legitimately call itself civilised if a sick person is denied medical aid because of lack of means”. -- Aneurin Bevan

No prescription charges in Wales, now Northern Ireland, then Scotland.....

[Bob Dalek]

“No society can legitimately call itself civilised if a sick person is denied medical aid because of lack of means”. -- Aneurin Bevan

No prescription charges in Wales, now Northern Ireland, then Scotland.....

Do these parts of the UK fund the charges without help from England's dosh?

[bogeyman]

Do these parts of the UK fund the charges without help from England's dosh?

Errm... no. It's only fair.

[expat]

Do these parts of the UK fund the charges without help from England's dosh?

Don't know about the others, but Scotland funds ALL of its different policies from its own dosh: they use some of their own dosh for that, and still send most of their dosh to England.

[rootsnall]

Don't know about the others, but Scotland funds ALL of its different policies from its own dosh: they use some of their own dosh for that, and still send most of their dosh to England.

Bollards !

[bogeyman]

Bollards !

Indeed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnett_Formula

[gingerjedi]

They actually make money on some prescriptions, a few years ago I was prescribed some iron tablets but when I handed over the prescription at boots the nice man said I could buy the same thing for £1.50! The doctor obviously thought I looked ‘well to do’ so it was only fair for me to give a little extra funding to the NHS.

Shirley it’s only a matter of time before England catches up with the rest of the UK?

[expat]

Indeed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnett_Formula

I know about the Barnett Formula, naturally. It is a way of ensuring that in effect, some at least of Scotland's money is spent in Scotland, by requiring that, if a certain amount is spent in, say London in a particular area, a proportional amount must be spent in Scotland.

It is not a gift of money to Scotland, it is merely a formula designed to allocate spending in a particular way.

The money spent in Scotland according to the Barnett formula is a small proportion of the money raised in Scotland and sent to London, so it is not reasonable to say, simply from the existence of the formula, that Scotland is being given England's money.

There are a number of things wrong with it certainly, among them:
1. Some English regions and provincial cities could do with their own version of it, but they don't have it.
2. The West Lothian Question of course raises its head.
3. It is divisive: the English continually think that it just means England subsidising Scotland, and the Scots complain (as I do now) that it incorrectly makes it look so.

[bogeyman]

They actually make money on some prescriptions, a few years ago I was prescribed some iron tablets but when I handed over the prescription at boots the nice man said I could buy the same thing for £1.50! The doctor obviously thought I looked ‘well to do’ so it was only fair for me to give a little extra funding to the NHS.

Shirley it’s only a matter of time before England catches up with the rest of the UK?

I know. Some GPs are ever-mindful that your prescription charges go to fund their cosy lifestyles.

My daughter needs a steroid inhaler for a mild asthma condition. She is assessed every 3 months. In that time she goes through 2 inhalers.

Can I persuade the GP to write a script for 2 inhalers and pay one lot of prescription charges? Oh no! Certainly not!

Socialist bastards

[The Lone Gunman]

I know. Some GPs are ever-mindful that your prescription charges go to fund their cosy lifestyles.

My daughter needs a steroid inhaler for a mild asthma condition. She is assessed every 3 months. In that time she goes through 2 inhalers.

Can I persuade the GP to write a script for 2 inhalers and pay one lot of prescription charges? Oh no! Certainly not!

Socialist bastards

I have complained about this for some time with my GP.
I am asthmatic, it is not going away but he wont write scripts to cover me from one check up to the next.

Hopefully I will benefit from Golden Clowns latest gift.