You can say that again - in 7 years, my GP practice has never once measured my height, weight or blood pressure.

I have had all of that done and more, as I said before it seems to come down to the individual GP or surgery.

Were rubber gloves involved?

The article linked a few posts back was suggesting £10/month not per year.

I have a suspicion it would be better for me not to make the comment I originally thought of.

I've just had my annual check here in Alberta: blood and urine tests for thyroid function, blood sugar, white blood cell count, hepatitis C, cholesterol and potassium; an ECG, colon cancer screen, weight and blood pressure checks. Other screens I've had in Alberta include breast scan, bone scan and smear test.

Of the blood tests, only the thyroid function was done in the UK automatically. Unfortunately my local health authority of North Staffs was using the wrong test -- T4 -- which tells the doctor nothing of value, as opposed to the TSH test which is accurate. As a result my GP was prescribing me nearly 3 times as much levothyroxine as I needed and as a consequence I had symptoms of thyroxine poisoning.

After I'd consulted an endocrinologist privately and he had ordered a TSH test, my GP in Staffordshire still ordered the T4 test, and subsequently told me (in response to my complaint) that if he'd ordered a TSH test, it would have been ignored by the path lab at Staffordshire University Hospital. Staffordshire University Hospital's only response to my complaint was a (clearly lawyer drafted) letter telling me that they had no legal duty to observe 'best practice'.

In the UK I also had the blood sugar test done annually, but at my own request because most of my relatives have Diabetes 2.

Breast scans and smear tests were done in the UK periodically, but not bone scans. My husband's mother died of colon cancer, which can be an inherited risk, but he was not offered colon cancer screening in the UK.

My Canada GP has just ordered an echocardiogram. This is for a symptomless, fairly harmless type 1 heart block, but she wants the additional information on top of the ECG. My brother who orders this kind of equipment for the NHS is gobsmacked.

My Canadian doctor orders a white blood cell count as a matter of course when there is any sign of infection as well as for annual check-ups. As a result she diagnosed my husband's Hep C, which he'd probably had since his early twenties and could have been picked up on several occasions in the UK, if his GP had done the same kind of test. In the UK, he would probably have first been diagnosed at the same time as he was diagnosed with terminal liver cancer.

On 2 occassions, yes.

Interesting article in the Telegraph..........

The NHS is collapsing under the weight of demand - Telegraph

.......... changes have to come. Where, what and when, who knows, but come they surely must.

I've not read the comments on the article yet.

A sensationalist headline to a decent article.... the Telegraph has become very Daily Mailish in that regard.

Frankly, I don't think the article amounts to much more than an ambitious Tory MP setting out his stall. What actually does he say?

Firstly he makes a rather dubious case that the older generation around at the foundation of the NHS were more stoic and made fewer demands of the system than those that have come later. As someone who was around in the fifties and remembers her mother's generation going to the doctor for prescriptions for cotton wool and aspirin, I beg to disagree.

Secondly he suggests that it is arguable we are not healthier, just ill in different ways. There is a difference between something being arguable and an argument you will actually win. We live longer healthier lives. End of argument.

His solutions to the increasing costs of healthcare?

Firstly reduce demand. Except that he does not have one practical suggestion about how this should be done.

Secondly we should have centres of excellence while maintaining local services. All he is doing there is singing with the choir.

Thirdly, he is in favour of introducing charging rather than relying on funding by taxation. A familiar trope, but one I find puzzling from Tory politicians who are otherwise always complaining about the burden of taxation. if services remain free for those on lower incomes, then charging just increases the burden for middle incomes and above. I don't normally suspect hidden agendas, but it is difficult to see how there cannot be one here -- a two tier service, basic for the poor, but better for those who can pay.

And at the bottom of the page -- he is standing as Health Select Committee Chairman. Hopefully, for him, it probably isn't a post where original thought is required.

I have to talk about the impressive service we have so far received at our local GP surgery. We came back two weeks ago today and I went in to re register both of us the following week. We already had our NHS numbers for the same health centre but as we had been away so long, we had to register again. Very easy to do, I asked if we needed to provide proof of address or residency but was told no.

We were told to wait a couple of days and then call to make an appointment to see the nurse who would carry out basis tests. My husband (who is on a spouse visa) has already done this. I have had a bad cold so put it off until this coming week. He took in a list of his medications and history and the nurse put all the information into the computer. Then he was told a to go back yesterday for blood and urine tests. Meanwhile,the doctor had some concerns about the medications and called to discuss the issue. As a result, the doctor prescribed a new list of meds, the prescription for which was ready in the hour. My husband is to go back next Friday to get his results. All I can say is WOW so far!

When we fill in our annual income tax returns, we could be asked

"Would you like your taxes to be spent on

1. Aircraft Carriers and Weapons of Mass Destruction
OR
2. A proper Health Service
OR
3. Freebies and expenses for members of the House of Lords and House of Commons"

Interesting thesis BTW. It is pretty clear that Simon Stevens push for better community hospitals and care in the community tied in with strong specialist centres is finding a receptive ear in the House. (How great to see the Select Committees resuming their critical role).

I would not bother reading the comments. Every comment section in the Telegraph gets swamped by the immigration nutters. The sensible comments get pushed down to page 57.

On my last stint on the board of a NHS Trust, the elephant in the room that only really got talked about after an extra glass of wine was that 75/80 percent of ones usage of healthcare is in ones "geriatric" years. The Chief Exec made the not unreasonable point that whilst the anti smoking campaign has been a tremendous success on health grounds, it has been a disaster for NHS finances. By dying early, the average smoker costs the NHS 30 percent less than we self righteous healthy types who hang on.

And if you take up exercise, stop drinking and eat sensibly you could bankrupt the NHS all on your own!

NHS spending has grown I believe 4 percent p.a. in real terms over the years. Clearly that has to stop at some point. It used to be 3 or 4 percent of GDP but is now about 10.

If Gerard Lyons is right (and he is right more often than many of his competitors) and UK interest rates do hit 5 or 6 percent in the next couple of years, then the cost of UK debt service will be roughly the same as the cost of the NHS. Something will have to give. It is pretty clear the present system cannot continue and someone will have to pay.

I had a friend over there tell me the other day how bad the quality of care from the NHS is. She is foreign-born but has resided in the UK for many, many years. She goes on holiday to her native land and gets healthcare there via travel insurance to supplement what she receives from the NHS!

I have a couple of friends being treated by doctors over there and I am totally amazed how long it takes doctors to diagnose anything!

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