NHS in the UK - secrets that could change your life
20 billion pounds is the likely cost savings needed between 2011 and 2014 if current cost-cutting targets are to be met according to an article posted in Medical Government/NHS related news on 06/11/2009. This won't come as a suprise to many of us who have been expecting that public spending cuts in the main front-line services will be inevitable given the present economic climate and the extent of government borrowing.
Indeed, managers of the service, who congregated earlier this month for the NHS Employers' annual conference, voiced their concerns about the consequences of cutting jobs within the health service. And they have a point, making rafts of NHS employees redundant is something that ideally needs to be avoided at all costs. But is that going to be possible in the current climate?
Then again, even at current staffing levels it is difficult to keep NHS standards to the required levels. The NHS has been concentrating its efforts on tackling the two major hospital-based infections, MRSA and Clostridium difficile. In fairness it appears to have had some success in curbing these bugs but in the process has it lost sight of the importance of tackling others?
A recent report compiled by the Public Accounts Committee, which examined the number of infections that can be contracted in UK hospitals discovered that the prevalence of both the MRSA and Clostridium difficile bugs has been significantly curbed, but more action needs to be taken regarding others. The best available evidence is that other - avoidable but equally debilitating - infections such as surgical site infections and pneumonias have increased. The report highlighted that over 300, 000 patients in England catch infections every year while being treated in hospitals.
Even if NHS hospitals in the UK did become infection free, could budgets run to the drugs some of us urgently want? Only last week a liver cancer drug developed by Bayer has been deemed too expensive for use on the NHS.
Nexavar has been found to prolong the lives of liver cancer sufferers, but the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has cancelled it out as an NHS treatment, as it costs £3, 000 - a significant amount to administer per person per month.
England, Wales and Northern Ireland trusts will be affected by the decision.
So where does that leave the man in the street, who just wants to protect himself and his family from illness and its consequences in the best way he can? Well, the first thing to do is to encourage his family to take responsibility and have a more active role in their own health and wellbeing. Do they eat healthily? Do they take regular exercise?
Beyond that, perhaps he should consider whether his family is adequately insured. Is the family income protected, do they have the option of bypassing the NHS if neccessary and going private at a hospital of their choice?
Permanent Health Insurance is designed to pay a regular tax free monthly income if the insured is incapacitated and unable to work due to illness
Private Medical Insurance provides the insured access to private treatment when they need it, often in the hospital of their choice. Tailored insurance packages can include all or part of the family. It is designed to pay for the treatment of acute illnesses and injuries. Acute conditions are those most likely to have a speedy, positive response to treatment. They can choose a private health insurance plan to suit their budget - the more they invest, the more treatments their policy is likely to cover and pay for.
