i smashed my finger up the other week. lost the end of my stinky finger.

having to visit doctors every three days to get the bandage changed.

last thrusday was a bank holiday and all the doctors were closed so had to go to the hospital.

each visit costs me in the region of 80€. i’ll get reimbursed by my insurance but only once i’ve exceeded the 600€ excess.

i’ve got to spend over 2,5k a year before i’m “in pocket”.

winds me up no end, especially when i comment on how beschissen the system is over here, when people say how bad the NHS system is. i so wish the rest of Europe was as progressive as the UK.

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdarqEbDeV0[/video]

vs.

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMNuxPByEW0[/video]

go Bismarck!

The NHS does a fantastic job ime, not perfect, but bloody good in general, certainly for acute care

lost the end of my stinky finger

Your wiping technique is all wrong. 🙂

The NHS, despite being a political football for the last 40+ years, is pretty good in most areas. But like every massive organisation, it has its normal share of poor, badly motivated staff, crap management and areas which are not resourced properly.

But yes, occasionally we need to step back and appreciate what a marvel it is compared with the arrangements in some countries.

i’ve got to spend over 2,5k a year before i’m “in pocket”.

That is how it is for most people under the UK system too, especially when you are young and healthy you contribute far more into the system than you take out.

winds me up no end, especially when i comment on how beschissen the system is over here, when people say how bad the NHS system is. i so wish the rest of Europe was as progressive as the UK.

Germany is not Europe, just a bit of it. Spanish healthcare costs me taxes not cash when I need to use it, just like the NHS.

winds me up no end, especially when i comment on how beschissen the system is over here, when people say how bad the NHS system is. i so wish the rest of Europe was as progressive as the UK.

Progressive? My ‘treatment’ from the NHS over the last 10 years has been crap. I avoid it as much as possible.

^^ not sure it would be that much, but still i don’t notice it as such in the UK seeing as there are no costs at point of care.

as you know MSP, each visit incurs an invoice which i pay and then have to claw the money back from the insurance.

last year i had a fall on the bike and smashed my shoulder. seeing as it was 6th an everywhere was closed except an overflowing Notaufnahme place in town. there the Dr falsely diagnosed it as being a pulled tendon when in fact the collar bone was split into lots of little pieces. took it upon myself to go straight to the sports klinik and got put in a MRT scanner at a cost of 600€.

i think the whole shebang cost me over 3k, yet the insurance have refused to pay as i didn’t go to a normal Hausarzt (equiv. GP) first despite there not none having been open on the day of the accident and the obvious fact that my shoulder was broken. they have agreed to pay 50% of costs. woop-dee-do.

and what really cooks my piss is that you see adverts for the various insurance companies trying to convince you that you would be better looked after with them rather than the other useless, money spunking gits.

costs per head are so high. the amount of money that is spent on advertising and admin within each insurance co. (and bear in mind the running costs of the (private) hospitals and doctors also has to be added) could easily cover half the population’s health care cost if the current system were to be abolished.

and then the insurance co.s were so nice they gave everyone 150€ back the year before last because they were making too much profit. how generous! why not just reduce the premiums?!

and the system will pürobably never be abolished as it is such a massive industry there would be a few thousand pen pushers out of a job.

i don’t understand how a country as rich and affluent as Germany cannot look after its own people (and the odd englishman who pays shed load of tax, yet is entitled to sweet FA as he is self-employed).

i need a break from this place.

Germany is not Europe, just a bit of it

high5!

yeah, Spanish system is very similar to the UK. was working on Gran Canaria and had a crash which resulted in my tendons beiong bruised/sprained and needing some attention. no costs at point of service.

cinnamon_girl – Member

Progressive? My ‘treatment’ from the NHS over the last 10 years has been crap. I avoid it as much as possible.

if you don’t like it go private. if you can’t afford it then i’m afraid it’s the NHS for you. you still breathing? how much did it cost you?

In the video got as far as “The national health care of England”

🙄

I found the video quite interesting, the NHS is often painted as a bureaucratic disaster zone by politicians wanting to make cuts and privatise. But it does seem to deliver more bang for the buck than almost any other system in the world. Comparatively it seems its weakness is still lack of investment rather than inefficiency.

I haven’t had the same problems as alpin in the German healthcare system, but I am in the statutory system not private. Still I think the UK system is a diamond that is all too often talked down for political points and dogma when its achievements should be praised, especially when compared to the rest of the world including comparative western countries.