UK Forum News Politics & Current Affairs - View Single Post

The Relic · 01-31-2008, 03:06 PM

One way they can cut waiting lists is to actually allow hospitals to finance complete instead of partial treatments of conditions up front.

My wife has trick knees which can dislocate at any time. In late October they both dislocated at the same time, causing massive trauma and effectively crippling her. Now, the truth is that the surgeons could replace her knees and return her to an active life; it was the first thing her consultant suggested and he has repeatedly mentioned the possibility since. However, he cannot commit her to surgery because she is apparently "too young" for the treatment at 43, which is NHS speak for, "If we pay to do this now there's a slim possibility we may have to do it again in your sixties, so we're not allowing you to spend the money." Instead it has been proposed that she has a partial replacement of the single knee which has worn away to the greatest extent.

What this means for her is that unless we pay a large sum to have her knees replaced privately - anathema to her anyway, as she is a committed socialist - she must carry on enduring constant pain with accompanying depression for years to come, else become dependent on a cocktail of pills - a further longterm drain on the NHS, please note. I'll add that the situation and the change in her personality has already damaged relationships within our family.

Sorry about the rant, but I think you can see why the lack of foresight of the NHS penny pinchers has angered me.

01-31-2008, 03:06 PM	#4 (permalink)
The Relic Decaying old hippie Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Norath. Posts: 393	One way they can cut waiting lists is to actually allow hospitals to finance complete instead of partial treatments of conditions up front. My wife has trick knees which can dislocate at any time. In late October they both dislocated at the same time, causing massive trauma and effectively crippling her. Now, the truth is that the surgeons could replace her knees and return her to an active life; it was the first thing her consultant suggested and he has repeatedly mentioned the possibility since. However, he cannot commit her to surgery because she is apparently "too young" for the treatment at 43, which is NHS speak for, "If we pay to do this now there's a slim possibility we may have to do it again in your sixties, so we're not allowing you to spend the money." Instead it has been proposed that she has a partial replacement of the single knee which has worn away to the greatest extent. What this means for her is that unless we pay a large sum to have her knees replaced privately - anathema to her anyway, as she is a committed socialist - she must carry on enduring constant pain with accompanying depression for years to come, else become dependent on a cocktail of pills - a further longterm drain on the NHS, please note. I'll add that the situation and the change in her personality has already damaged relationships within our family. Sorry about the rant, but I think you can see why the lack of foresight of the NHS penny pinchers has angered me. __________________ The Relic Richard Dawkins for Pope. Last edited by The Relic : 01-31-2008 at 03:10 PM.