Is the UK NHS really socialised?

[Dr Mindbender]

I went to the doctor today, with it being an NHS surgery i didnt have to pay for his time but because i am a worker i had to pay £6 for the medicine he prescribed me. It seems to me that if our medical system was truly socialised so in one which labels itself as such how can this fee be justified?

What can british workers do to fight these costs? I know the welsh government have already succeeding in winning free prescriptions for welsh workers.

[Philosophical Materialist]

The cost of the medicine is subsidised despite the flat prescription charge of £7.10. A particular medicine I take would cost many hundreds of dollars in the USA.

Prescriptions were once free in Britain, but this was phased out by the the second Churchill government who rolled back some of the Attlee government's welfare measures. Unfortunately the Labour Party has never tried to reverse this outside Wales.

In the current political climate the Labour Party in Britain at large aren't going to adopt a free prescription policy as they're cutting spending to pay for their 2p tax cut for the middle class. If they lose the next general election, in opposition they would likely adopt more social democratic measures which may well mirror policies in Wales.

[Kami]

PM got it right. Unfortunately, in the current political climate, privatisation looks more likely than complete socialisation.

[Demogorgon]

The Prescription charges have been abolished in Wales and are currently being abolished in Scotland. Does that make the NHS here significantly different to the one in England and Northern Ireland? "Socialised Medicine" is just a silly term used by American Conservatives incidentally, but the NHS is genuinely universal.

[Dr Mindbender]

The Prescription charges have been abolished in Wales and are currently being abolished in Scotland. Does that make the NHS here significantly different to the one in England and Northern Ireland?

it would make a big difference to me. It seems completely unfair that i am being penalised for being in employment. Along with rent and rates (council tax in GB), it's another classic case of being shafted for having a little bit more.

[Demogorgon]

it would make a big difference to me. It seems completely unfair that i am being penalised for being in employment. Along with rent and rates (council tax in GB), it's another classic case of being shafted for having a little bit more.

It makes a big difference to me too. Believe me nobody is happier than me at the fact the charges are being eliminated here. But what I meant is the nature of the NHS fundamentally different just for the removal of charges? Believe me, if it wasn't a Universal system, we would really know all about it.

[bloody_capitalist_sham]

Why be angry about paying £6 for your prescription each month, when the NHS pays billions annually which you will pay for through your tax contributions.

The NHS works off of contracts with major pharmaceuticals in which they buy the medicine at extortionate prices. The NHS acts as a guaranteed market because it is funded by taxpayers. And medicine still under 'patent', means they can really screw the NHS over.

In an optimistic world, this could mean that the NHS could manufacture its own non branded medicines far more cheaply (like cuba or india) and we could all pay less tax or alternatively make the NHS better.
It is where a non market, public utility has to interact with the market place which sucks balls.

[Dr Mindbender]

Why be angry about paying £6 for your prescription each month, when the NHS pays billions annually which you will pay for through your tax contributions.
its a point of principle. It seems if the NHS was truly universal, i'd be able to get access to necessary medication without having to dip into my food and rent budget. To someone else, £6 probably goes much further and with having to make ends meet in the climate of increasing living costs it is outrageous. Education, and medical care are not commodities they are human rights!

What about homeless people who are not in reciept of welfare? How on earth are they expected to prove their entitement? If free healthcare across the board is possible across Wales and Scotland, i don't understand what is so special about England and Northern Ireland.



The NHS works off of contracts with major pharmaceuticals in which they buy the medicine at extortionate prices. The NHS acts as a guaranteed market because it is funded by taxpayers. And medicine still under 'patent', means they can really screw the NHS over.
that truly is an inditement then of private meddling and more evidence as if it was needed as to why we need to fight for nationalised pharmaceutic laboratories.