How would we combat the rising cost of NHS treatment?

alive... dead.... I dunno. I’ll rephrase that, I’m uncertain.

 

Are you going to suggest a 'massive' tax on everything else that causes illnesses too? Fatty foods, alcohol, salt etc?

 

Plenty of tax already on alcohol, mate.

 

Salt and fat are essential parts of our diet as is sugar but sugar is overwhelmingly worse in excess than the others and is put in many foods to replace fat. Alcohol is already massively taxed. There are arguments for increasing it. It’s not the consumers that the tax would be aimed at, rather the irresponsible manufacturers who pedal sugar.

Taking things to the extreme, you could argue for taxing dangerous sports such as hang gliding, but you’ve got to allow some pleasures otherwise life isn’t worth living.

Sorry for going all “Wendy”

 

I'll try that this afternoon in Asda. Thanks for the tip!

 

Did you know, each individual trust negotiates individually with Pharmaceutical companies, meaning you could have let’s say 26 trusts negotiating with one company and all at different rates, instead of one person negotiating a better deal on behalf of the collective.

 

It's a myth that sugar itself causes type 2 diabetes. Being overweight from eating too much sugar can lead to diabetes but it's not the sugar directly. Meat, particularly red and processed meat, on the other hand are both linked with a significantly increased risk of developing the disease.

 

Also women that develop gestational diabetes during pregnancy have a significant risk of going on to develop Type 2.

But really, type 2 is a blanket term that means diabetes that develops later in life, as opposed to Type 1 which occurs from childhood (often birth) and is generally linked to a lack of exercise and obesity but there are genetic factors.

 

Sugar is one of the first things your body burns off so I agree with you.

 

Correct, I don't touch the stuff (suger), I'm overweight & have type2 , I go to the gym between 10 & 12 hrs a week so I have it under control, there is a lot of myths surrounding this type2 thingy.

 

Is it true that your body can get used to too much cardio and hours on end on the bike and treadmill can bugger your thyroid up and cause weight gain?

 

No

 

I'm not sure if too much cardio can effect your thyroid, I had mine checked not long ago & it's fine. Lost about 3st since going to the gym minst.

 

Good. I don't think short bursts of sprinting and weight lifting is for me.

 

Cut the number of over payed consultants ( not the medical type) that get paid stupid money for reorganising stuff a person of average intelligence could do.
Organise the buying better to get bulk prices.
Cut down on waste, there is a ridiculous amount of equipment ( aids to disability) laying about that a good service and cutting red tape could go back into circulation
Make sure health tourists who are not genuine pay their share
Re direct some of the stupid amount of overseas aid back to the NHS

 

AHHHH split a fart in two bean counters, just the extra layer of bureaucracy any business needs.

 

This is one of those cases where the ‘obvious’ isn’t always the correct assumption.

there was lots of noise from the incoming Tory government about multiple contracts for them same thing’ when it was obvious they could negotiate better deals for a single contract.

If I give you an example from a previous job; a government department buying desktop computers; the computers have to have a decent service roadmap moving forwards, a guarantee that in 3 years time if we need to add a few thousand they’ll be identical spec, and we need 60,000 of them.

the ‘obvious’ bit, now we have the details is that I could buy 1, 10, 100 or 1000 PCs for loads less money than you can buy computers for with the above stipulations.

Smaller leaner contracts are usually much cheaper than larger contracts. The nature of outsourcing has changed massively over the last ten years as more and more companies wake up to the fact that rather than simplifying matters, it just ramps up costs and needless complication.

 

I agree that there are always, specialist cases and so on and cheap is not always best.
I am talking about basic things like Paracetamol etc.
Now yes a cheaply made version may not be up to standards and that’s fair comment. But I am talking about where for example 3 local trusts buy the same product from the day supplier. They each negotiate an individual deal instead of bulking together to get a better deal based on volume.

I’ve said before on here that my best M8 is an Accountant at the NHS and he often cites that example how money could be saved.

 

I’m not suggesting there aren’t ways money could be saved, just pointing out that what seems obvious even with a little knowledge isn’t always that straightforward.


It’s easy to get outraged at ‘waste’ in the public sector, but as someone who’s worked in the public and private sector and been self employed, all I’ll say is that the public sector is no worse than the private, I’ve worked with lazy people, idiots and lazy barstewards and there’s no public sector v private sector divide.

the bottom line is that health spending in the UK has shrunk massively compared to our peers, it should shock no one that there’s a tipping point where reduction in spend is visible as reduction in performance.

 

Trusts just throw away the old too when replacing tech. Three Samsung flat screen 55" screens used for patient call just sat idol on a service corridor. When asked about it management said that they were already budgeted for. No one care's the attitude is the screens have been replaced and it was 2017 budget what do you care for?