Thread: Pay once - pay twice - pay 3 times - PAY 4 TIMES?????

I have always been a little annoyed at how, as someone that has worked pretty much all his life, has had to pay twice if I ever had to access the NHS.
By this I mean as someone paying tax and national insurance I pay for the NHS (as do millions of other workers) and then should I ever need Dental treatment, or a prescription, then I have to pay again.
I contrast this with shirkers (and I do not include people who legitimately are unable to work for whatever reason) who choose not to and so pay no tax or national insurance and even then - get free dental treatment and prescriptions.

This I have come to live with.

A real slap in the face came when I found out I needed a minor op . - no problem thinks I - I pay private healthcare - I can get it sorted.
I toddled along to my NHS Doctor with the knowledge that as I was paying private and that it wouldnt be costing my GP's practice anything to do (normally GP's get billed for hospital treatment to their patients) and asked him for the referral letter I needed for my Insurance.

My GP was more than happy to oblige - especially as I HAD TO PAY A FEE for this letter.!!!

so not only do I pay tax and NI (paying once)
Not only do I have to pay for prescriptions and dental treatment (Paying twice)
Not only do I pay private medical (thus taking pressure of the NHS for which I get NO reduction in contributions) PAYING 3 TIMES
If I need a referral to the Private Sector from my GP (which the insurance companies insist upon) I HAVE TO PAY FOR THAT AS WELL

Thats without the £100 excess on the policy.......



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Without doubt - this minor op could have been done on the NHS .
However a couple of disadvantages

1 the waiting time to have this operation done would mean at least 6 months

2The route I would have to take to get this done by the specialty required would mean even a longer delay

I also love the implication in your question that this is actually my fault - "If you werent such a snob and going private then you wouldnt have to pay the extra"

The excess I accept - any insurance company has those - but what really annoys me is that when I am SAVING the NHS money by not using facilities i am already paying for they are penalising me by charging for the service they would have had to supply for free anyway.

I am a great believer in the NHS - I worked in it for many years, and know the pressure it is under and I am not attacking the NHS itself here, but the bureaucrats who deliberately set out to milk every penny from those that commit the heinous crime of actually working for a living as opposed to sponging off the state.

( as previously mentioned I exclude all who are genuinely unable to work for any reason, but there are plenty who could, but choose not to)

Hi poppy - thanks for your comments - the problem is that I have what is possible a Basal Cell Carcinoma which due to its location requires plastic surgery removal rather than dermatology.
I really dont want to wait 4 months to find out what this is.

what speciality you work in?