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@deleted
I've been intermittently been feeling v. ill for the last few months. First time I've really confronted anything particularly chronic/debilitating and although I'm relieved the NHS is here, I'm pretty sad just how conditional and costed treatment. Having been fobbed off for months with 'it's just a post viral symtoms, you just need to wait it out' I've had to argue really strongly for actual tests to be done and basically self-diagnose to a massive extent, print off peer reviewed journal articles, and guidelines published by international public health organisations.
To achieve the desired testing the doctor basically had to lie to the unit required as she agrees with me but can't get them approved without saying I've had symptoms that medical professionals know don't even manifest in over 30% of cases, as without them the lab concerned will refuse to do the tests. Now one sample of blood goes to one end of the country, and one goes to the other, and one goes to... France. Because "we stopped doing that test".
Confusingly, the lab that had to give her approval also didn't want her to give me medication without clinical proof of need, but didn't want to perform the tests that would confirm the same. I was then offered a referral to a specialist unit that might see me within 2 weeks or might not, but would only be able to ask the same people to do the same tests, with the same need for the same non-visible symptoms to be present before they'd agree to do them.
Now that we've negotiated this Kafkaesque situation, it also has to be noted that because of the costs involved the NHS doesn't perform these tests to the same sensitivity as, say France, Germany or the USA, and as such has a far higher risk of returning false negatives. So if they come back negative, I may have to go private anyway just to get access to an accurate diagnosis and appropriate medication. Great.
I then come home to discover on my FB feed (eerie) that Cameron quietly sold off a section of the NHS that processes blood plasma in 2013 to an American Venture capital firm called Bain Capital for £90 million despite it being valued at £150 million. Now having retired Cameron is earning undisclosed sums for doing speeches to Bain. Stink, much?
How can the fuckers responsible for creating such a disfunctional mess out of what by all accounts used to be a very sensible and effective organisation and was respected the world over, be allowed to profit like this? The conflict of interest is undeniable.
TL:DR Tories are cunts, the NHS is getting fucked, people's treatment is suffering.