Thought Id start this one going because its rather dead on this board at the moment and I suppose all my usual muckers are either at the Stella tennis event watching Dim Tim (lose again) or at Henly Regatta eating cucumber sandwiches (they wish,...NOT).

Anyway please feel free to just talk to yourself blast away and let it go on any company or subject you wish. Just wish Id thought of this one before.

cheers GF.

Have any of you watched the t v series Costa Del Casualty ?

TANKER , are all those trips abroad holidays

sorry fred but that has to be nonsense, and collecting at the door before treating is a damn sight cheaper than chasing for bad debt

if a shop or a clinic or a surgery or a laboratory can do it, there is absolutely no reason why a hospital cannot

What again

But medics as a whole, as yet, are not as mercenary as you!

If a patient turns up at the doors with a "stroke", a "coronary", (both of which you and Haze are in the right age group for, as well as JB, Max and Tinker), or acute asthma, or a fractured hip or pelvis, or "allergic reaction" or unconscious, are you going to riffle through their pockets for medical cards, wallet and bank cards.

Get real!

There is still such a thing as altruistic charity and what goes round comes round.

But check the costs.

There is a difference between "overseas" patients booking in for chronic conditions and cold surgery, against "disorders" occurring while the "patient" develops a condition while in a country.

The former is a small percentage of the problem and probably does need addressing.

But check who are the abusers first!

with some reluctance, i have to accept that the last part of your comment is fair, even if other countries may well just chuck you out the door regardless of the acuteness

however, non-emergencies as most doctor's or even A&E visits are can assuredly be charged at the door
it's not the doctors being mercenary (or not as the case may be), but as it's the taxpayer, which means even you, who has to pick up the tab, why should WE not collect on the spot

in this instance, the only thing that goes round and then comes round is death!

There is a difference between "overseas" patients booking in for chronic conditions and cold surgery, against "disorders" occurring while the "patient" develops a condition while in a country.


i don't think any of the above would classify as acute emergencies, and there is no obvious reason at all why they should not be charged

if an acute emergency, then see above

=============

taking your argument to what is surely its logical conclusion, the borders should be open to all and sundry, from anywhere in the world, and they should immediately be entitled to free medical care .... and i guess you'ld also argue that they should have immediate access to all other benefits from housing, through child and unemployment benefit

If it is so easy and cost effective why is it not already being done?

you may well ask!

just received the following ......

For anyone who can use a good chuckle.

The Pastor entered his donkey in a race and
It won.

The Pastor was so pleased with the donkey
That he entered it in the race again and it won again.

The local paper read:
PASTOR'S ASS OUT FRONT.

The Bishop was so upset with this kind of
Publicity that he ordered the Pastor not to enter the donkey in another race.

The next day the local paper headline read:

BISHOP SCRATCHES
PASTOR'S ASS.

This was too much for the Bishop so he
Ordered the Pastor to get rid of the donkey.

The Pastor decided to give it to a Nun in a nearby convent.

The local paper, hearing of the news, posted
The following headline the next day:
NUN HAS BEST ASS IN TOWN.

The Bishop fainted.

He informed the Nun that she would have to get rid of the donkey so she sold it to a farm for $10.

The next day the paper read:
NUN SELLS ASS FOR $10

This was too much for the Bishop so he
Ordered the Nun to buy back the donkey and lead it to the plains where it could run wild.

The next day the headlines read:
NUN ANNOUNCES HER ASS IS WILD AND FREE.

The Bishop was buried the next day.

The moral of the story is . . . Being concerned about public opinion can bring you much grief and misery . . . Even shorten your life.

So be yourself and enjoy life.

Stop worrying about everyone else's ass
And just cover your own !!!

You'll be a lot happier.

These are the stories (not the one above) where politicians should intervene...what the hell are euro mps for ?.....there is a european system for healthcare ; it should work if not...no point in being in being in a european medical system.....what a bloody mess isn't it !....just read the above...(quite funny).......

they're too busy supping the gravy at the finest eateries and hotels

Yep...probably.....thinking of starting a new party : called : "British Summer time all year party"....it means not changing the clocks.....(just an excuse).....we all remain in bed...party all night long....get completely sloshed on the back of the british tax payer.....free holidays ...beer..vino at a discount ...and millions....of free airmiles..with
a big choice of female dates....(male dates for those with an eatme appetite).....

Where do I sign up rf?

Aha....a voter...you're bagged !...

Ukip's angry, left-behind voters are not going away

Nigel Farage draws his support from financially struggling white people who have completely lost faith in the political system. They're anxious about the future, angry about inequality, and they will still be here after May 7



By Matthew Goodwin

12:13PM GMT 26 Mar 2015





Ukip has achieved remarkable things. Last year, at the European Parliament elections, Nigel Farage and his party became the first new movement to win a nationwide election for almost one hundred years, taking more than twenty seats in the European Parliament. It has more than three hundred local councillors and for much of the past year has been averaging around 15 per cent in the opinion polls — ahead of the Liberal Democrats.


Now, Farage and his party face the ultimate test — trying to win a handful of seats in the House of Commons. The results, and their broader impact, will tell us a lot about the power of this revolt but even if Ukip fail to live up to expectations there are good reasons to expect that its underlying support will remain firmly in place.



Ukip is not benefitting simply from things that have happened since 2010; its rise is a symptom of deep social and value divides in Britain. At a recent debate in Westminster the columnist Matthew Parris said that he had never before seen such a consensus in British politics — that when you boil down the arguments of the main parties there is actually little disagreement about the big questions. There is in modern Britain, he said, no big clash.


But what Parris and others overlook is that there is a big clash in our society, and it is over values. This is reflected in new research released today by the British Social Attitudes survey which tells a story consistent with that presented by myself and Rob Ford in Revolt on the Right. It paints a picture of a group of voters who feel economically left behind, politically cut adrift from Westminster, and intensely anxious about the direction of Britain.


The findings confirm that Farage and his party are being driven by supporters who share a very distinct social profile and are driven by clear set of motives. Support is more than twice as high among people aged over 55 years old than it is among those under 35, and is twice as high among those in working-class occupations as it is among those in salaried managerial and professional positions (though there is also support for Ukip among small employers and the self-employed). Those who identify themselves as English, who have not been to university and are white are the most likely to endorse Farage (less than half a per cent of people who describe themselves as black or Asian support Ukip). And when it comes to motives, these are voters who are intensely anxious about Britain's relationship with Europe and immigration.


That is not all. These left-behind voters are more likely than others to say that they are struggling financially, and to worry about inequality. As we previously argued in Revolt on the Right, when it comes to their outlook toward economic issues Ukip voters are not tribal Tories. On the contrary, they are often closer on economic questions to Labour voters than to Conservatives— and this is why Lynton Crosby and David Cameron are having such difficulty winning them back.

These are voters who neither feel the recovery nor expect to feel it in the future. They do not share Cameron's economic outlook and they loathe the values that are reflected back at them in Britain's media and political class. Large majorities of Ukip supporters think that there is one law for the rich and another for the poor, that ordinary people are not getting their fair share of the nation's wealth, that managers try to take advantage of employees, that big business benefits owners at the expense of workers.


There is a more significant difference on the idea of redistribution of income, although still 40 per cent of Ukip voters think that government should redistribute income (compared to 52 per cent of Labour supporters and 22 per cent of Tories). These voters might prefer to see a Conservative rather than a Labour government. But when Ed Miliband talks about tackling inequality, getting tough on bankers and energy suppliers, and making society fairer, most Ukip voters will agree. A reasonable implication of this is that they remain hostile to the Conservatives for the same reason that many voters are — they simply do not believe that the Tories are on their side.

Moreover, they will remain receptive to a radical outsider long after May 7. These are voters who feel completely disconnected from our mainstream politics; some 79 per cent think that the government does not care much about what they think, compared to 53 per cent among all respondents. They are also among the least likely to trust politicians and, when asked how democracy works in the country, to give the lowest score (even lower than those who do not support any party).

"In short," notes the report, "Ukip supporters appear to be well and truly 'fed up' with the way their country is run". This strongly felt sense of abandonment and alienation is unlikely to disappear on May 8 — whatever happens in Thanet South.


More:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/general-election-2015/politics-blog/11496607/Ukips-angry-left-behind-voters-are-not-going-away.html

Calling all you right wing miserable moaners and groaners on here, I've found just the club for you.

http://glenaftonfc.com/2013/09/30/moaners-and-groaners-club/

my dad's bigger than yours!
even though election fatigue has already started to creep in, it's hard not to notice the usually pie throwing antics of the two main party leaders


EM says
we'll stop any private contractor for NHS making more than 5% profit on those contracts

only thing wrong with that, is that even a quick glance at the outline sketched shows that it is full of holes and exceptions ...... above all, were it to be rigidly enforced, many companies would find it uneconomic even to tender
in conclusion .... another load of political bollocks to con some of the electorate



DC says
we'll ensure that we have a 7-day 24/7 NHS, blah blah blah

in effect we already have that, for if you get knocked down by a bus or have a heart attack, the hospital will still take you in and treat you, and there'll be consultants and surgeons on hand to do the necessary
without being too cynical (moi?), you'll almost certainly be triaged and dealt with well within an hour or two .... and yes, i also know of cases where that has not happened as it should
in conclusion .... another load of political bollocks to con some of the electorate

Have you applied yet Alf -):

good morning stan .... applied for what?