And less than three weeks wait, mightily impressed with our new hospital!

That will be all that money Labour pumped into the NHS.

I dont disagree but it certainly wasnt the same 2 yrs ago when i damaged my knee, and im sure it was labour back then too! Private all the way last time im afraid, i was gutted too, coz other than being born i'd never been in hospital before!

Simple business sense. The yanks with their capitalist pigdog system have been running MRIs 24/7 for a long time – in business terms an MRI machine is a massive piece of plant, and the best way to get value out of it is to centralise them and run them as much as possible.

That will be all that money Labour pumped into the NHS.

Yeah, because of course it was simple lack of money that led to machines being under-used, badly managed, and sitting empty half the time due to poor communication between departments and patients failing to turn up to appointments.

In the USA you can get an MRI the same day if have insurance.

Be nice to have one day on here without the Labour spin machine rolling in.

wonder when my local hopital will start doing that. at the moment they just run them into the evening. 745pm was my last one

Flaperon – and in the USA you die of preventable chronic disease if you are poor. I'd rather be here thank you

Of course its extra money that has made the difference – staff costs are higher at weekends – therefore a weekend scan costs more.

Its one of these areas that deluded fools like you bleat that "all this extra money but no increase in efficiency" In bare financial terms this is less efficient – but its a service improvement.

I'm not saying the American system is better than the NHS – I'm in complete agreement with you there. However, the service we get does not measure up to the enormous amount of money thrown in. Especially when you consider that NHS staff are among a rapidly decreasing group that are paid more for working at the weekend.

By your argument, we need only give the NHS infinite money and we might see an acceptable system.

Flaperon – that simply is wrong. Despite all the extra money we still pay far less than the european average and the NHS is actually very efficient. Reducing waiting lists and giving more choice will automatically give reduced efficiency as do service improvements. This one is a classic example. It costs more so it will be seen as a reduction in efficiency.

I am afraid you have swallowed the neo con propaganda on this.

I swear the mother **** thing cooked my Insides! I've never been so hot in my guts! Not even after a bite of the local firey kebebab!!!

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/deadkennedys/killthepoor.html

Which poor ? these?

Tandem

You sound like you work in the NHS, if that is the case then i appreciate and respect your comments however they are a complete contradiction to both my own experience as a patient and also family members who work in the NHS. It is impossible to bring the debate ref the NHS to money becasue NO ONE knows what it costs. Irrespective of your political persuasion the NHS needs clear direction with specific changes but unfortunately these are too politically sensitive for ANYONE to be brave enough to introduce them. Take a far simpler example and watch how the Unions, in the middle of a financial catastrophy, are actively putting the pensions of 100,000 plus current and ex employees at risk in a game of survival at all costs…against a background of industry change which is unstopable…despite the unpopularity of the word Thatcher, New Labour on several occasions (TB in his own words) have openly stated that they would not have been able to make any progress if it hadn't been for her stance towards Unions and working practices……and to be frank (and possibly unpopular) what we need now is that sort of backbone (excluding the short period of losing the plot towards the end)..difficult problems require hard solutions!!!!!!! (P.S. I've had 3 MRI's 2 private,1 public, so have more than the usual experience at this level).

I don't understand much of that Alex.

A couple of points that address some of what you say – the NHS is far cheaper than any comparable system. Not much more than half the cost in the USA and 3/4 of the cost in germany(as a % of gdp) NHS costings are actually very clear and easily found out if you want – and in direct comparisions with private are significantly cheaper and have better outcomes.

NHS has very low management / admin costs in comparison to other systems – perhaps partly as a result of single stream funding. Perhpas it actually needs more and better quality management which will cost.

A lot of the debate about the NHS is being driven by people ideologically opposed to it in any form.

The NHS is great, for what it is. There are way too many managers though.

Jimmy – what makes you say that? Its admin / management costs are far lower than most systems – and its well arguable that actually more and better quality management is needed.

2007 figures but interesting reading
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_care_system#Cross-country_comparisons