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.

I told you in my story that my US friend thought it was absolutely wrong that he didn't pay for treatment here , he asked me "how do you pay for this" .

The answer now is staring us in the face ,the NHS is in trouble .

Fred will be here in a minute to tell me i'm Pol Pot !

jimmy - i fear NHS is now approaching "beyond repair" mode .....
for several years yet, i suppose gov'ts can apply elastoplast with barrowloads of money, but imo, someone will eventually have to be brave enough to cry "Enough!" and institute something far more radical along the lines of, "If you can afford to pay for medical insurance, you must do so"
having done that, i have my doubts that you can then stop those who have paid from "technical queue jumping" and also picking the consultant or whatever of their choice

i'm sure fred would say that we should just increase top-end taxes ad infinitum, but though that may make a few happier, i cannot believe it would produce anywhere the funds required to make the present system work

They could change to the French system of payments easily enough.

Works a treat, very prompt and a lot cheaper than here.

how does that work ..... other than by taking cash!

On a basic level, cos I don't know the ins and outs of the whole system.


Everyone has a Carte Vitale, which entitles you to a certain level of care and determines the level of charges.


Basic doctor visit is (last time I used the service) €22, of which about 70% will be refunded by the state if you are entitled.

Hospital and chemist charges work in a similar way, you pays your money and the 70% gets refunded. It is probably different for major stuff, hospital stays etc.

No one gets treated simply by turning up, you have to be entitled and contribute to the system.


edit:

A lot of people insure themselves for the 30% that isn't covered, charges vary. but if you have a long term problem, it no doubt pays to insure.

Not sure what happens with retired people.

thanks Max
that system certainly has merits, but i wonder how the unemployed or those on the breadline are meant to pay upfront and then no doubt have to wait a long time to get reimbursed
perhaps there's some sort of safety net for their ilk

I'm not sure how the system works for the unemployed/very poor, but it's probably coded into the carte vitale system under a safety net.

What you cannot do, is walk into france and demand treatment for nowt, they'll turf you out on your arse.

that said, on one of our cycle trips, one of us veloistes came a cropper and was patched up by the local pharmacist who refused payment

It is grand time that safety slots !.. were added to train platforms so that there is a lip under the platform all the way along where passengers board, so that in the event of a trip or fall a person and helpers can just crawl into, so that they cannot be hit by passing trains and when the train has passed they can climb back on to the platform .....this is not too difficult to realise and could be integrated into new stations being refurbished.....for HS2 : this should be a must do.....

You have to have been a French resident for a while, and have contributed to their social security system, to get access to their health system via a Carte Vitale. I think it's 4 years, but I might be wrong.

It means that ex-pats (and immigrants to France in general) have to purchase top-up medical insurance until they qualify for the carte which typically costs around £3k pa for a middle-aged couple and pre-existing conditions are excluded.

On the plus side, GP visits are cheap (around 25 €) in most towns, although medical centre and ambulance costs in ski resorts are horrifically expensive. I had to be recovered off a mountain in Val d'Isere several years ago, and the ride on the blood wagon (that's a stretcher, towed by a pisteur) and the x-rays in the local medical centre cost 600 €. They confiscated my new Rossi twin tips as a deposit until we produced the insurance certificate.

€ 600 for that is damn good value if you ask me ..... the guy who took your skis as deposit would prob rather have kept them!

Cyners,

It wasn't so much the medical aspect that was expensive. From memory, that only represented about 200 € in itself, and that included a brace for my leg and some painkillers. It was the 5-minute jaunt off the hill, and the 2-minute ride in the ambulance, that cost the bulk of the money.

Pay for a 5 minute ride in an ambulance and some medical attention in the USA and you'll see expensive .

hils - you could always have walked - rotfl

Any fundamentalist investors on here use Stockopedia?

If so, what do you think to it?

Hils

When you stuffed your knee in France, why didn't you get it fixed on your Medical Insurance, (instead of coming home and having to wait a while and then having to pay for it privately outside of insurance)?

As well as the financial consideration, one way of thinking about 'it', might tell you that the 'knee experts' are near to the ski hills and more experienced at 'doing it', sorta kinda. And medical care from French hospitals is damn good too. In fact, it's tons better than that in the UK.

Because, Doc, an ACL reconstruction is not something to take lightly.

When I did it all those years ago, they used a different reconstruction method with a higher rejection rate. In addition, the rehab is long and very hard work (about 9 months). It also depends upon your lifestyle. 99% of people can lead a normal life with a torn or ruptured ACL - mine has actually been absorbed into the body over the years and there's no longer anything there whatsoever. And you can build your surrounding muscles up to do the work of the ligament - I do a lot of swimming and gym work to target my quads - and I use a hinged brace to ski and play tennis.

It was only when we started moving to Switzerland for the winter that I thought it would be good to have a reconstruction. I was due to have it done last spring, but I missed that and I might just forget about it completely now. You can't fly or take long journeys for about 6 weeks after the op (DVT), and it's finding the time to have it done that's the problem.

I see.

I stuffed my knee up skiing too, you see. This was about 6 yrs or so ago and done in Deer Valley, Utah. It was the end of the day and I'd finished my run and for once, from the top of the hill right down to the bottom. I rotated my body around to the left side and reached round to unclip my skis from my boots and 'POP!' - something snapped!

I never have found out what it was. It was on the medial side of my right knee. One day to go and then it was 'home on the plane' so I didn't even go and get any treatment of any kind. I just kinda hobbled home with a 'supermarket bought brace' around my knee. Once home, after a few months, I ended up having an arthroscopy to tidy up the meniscus and was told that this was the thing , which had torn. But I didn't believe the consultant, really. I believed myself, that something else had been damaged too.

I now have a distorted knee and lots of pain - just as though the meniscus is 'mostly missing'. I now have a bit of a 'Baker's Cyst' swelling but it's not too big. I take 4 grms of paracetamol and 120mg of codeine every day and get by just taking things steady. I guess I really need a new knee joint. The pain killers work and I can just about walk a couple of miles, providing I sit down every so often.

I know that codeine lines your gut and so i go and have a 'colonic or two' every so often. I wouldn't want to end up like 'Elvis' did! ;-)

The qualifier for some kind of operation, is to do with 1. 'quality of life' being spoiled or alternatively, 2. pain.

Tip me off the cliff and I'll go and have 'whatever it is' done. The trouble is, I suppose, is that I don't go anywhere near to any cliffs, if you get my meaning. In fact, metaphorically speaking, I stay well away from them! And also a day turns into a week, turns into a month, turns into a year, etc.

But anyway, that's why I'm interested in your knee problem and also your attitude to effecting a repair.

I'm not too fussed about 'health professionals' either, if the truth be known.

I certainly wouldn't want to live off painkillers everyday because my lifestyle was being affected in the manner you describe, Doc.

Personally, I'd get an MRI scan done on it so that I knew precisely what was wrong. At least then you'd be able to make a balanced decision on how to future manage the situation, rather than being reliant upon self-diagnosis and internet remedies.

Cameron outside No 10 reminded me of Tom Brown's School Days with Dodgy Dave playing the role of Flashman in his adolescence.

His denigration of Miliband will appeal to his camp followers, but not to any of the non-committed voters who will see him as arrogant and self interested.

The sneering belongs to himself and cohorts.
=======

Just watched Osborne twist and turn in an interview.

I am not sure which is nastier piece of work, or I think is the most consummate liar, but think George is a perfect acolyte for Cameron and the NASTY PARTY.

========

How low will the tories sink to in order to stay in power?