Thursday, May 3, 2012

NHS Three Core Principles

"We know u r on a wheelchair, we know ure carer comes in at 9 in the morning to help u wash and dress...but we can only give you an appointment to see the doctor at 9 am", says the hospital people.

3rd of May 2012 at 3:00 pm, I received a call on my mobile from the Royal London Hospital. “Good afternoon! Am I speaking with Nadia Ahmed? I’m calling from the hospital in regard to your appointment.”

“Ok”, I said. “Its regarding the rescheduling of your appoint,” “aha”, I said. “Well, is it possible for you to come at 9 in the morning…oh, but it says here that you wanted to change the time of you appointment, earlier, as you are unable to come at 9”, “Well yes”, I said.

“Miss Ahmed, unfortunately we can only book you in for 9 am as all the new patient our neurologist sees at 9, and all are old patients after 11…blah,, blah, blah…its our policy…blah, blah, blah…”

I was just wondering, Gosh, how inflexible the NHS is…its amazing. Although they know my entire situation but still they are so persistent, …But I just cant make it, sorry!”, I explained politely, “I have not seen a specialist for 3 years and I don’t want to see one now as well, but my GP is after me to see one…sorry, but I cannot come at 9 in the morning”.

“I understand your situation Madame, leave this case with me, and I’ll get back to you soon. Thank you, bye!”.

The NHS was created out of the ideal that good healthcare should be available to all, regardless of wealth (NHS Core Principles). When it was launched by the then minister of health, Aneurin Bevan, on the 5th of July 1948, it was based on three core principles:

•that it meet the needs of everyone (are they flexible enough, especially for people who actually need it)

•that it be free at the point of delivery (Well they why do people prefer to pay for private health care!)

•that it be based on clinical need, not ability to pay (do they investigate enough about what clinical need is required? Or we find it easier to pay privately and get the right medical assistance?)

These three principles have guided the development of the NHS over more than 60 years and remain at its core.

“OK!”  

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