I think considering people in the UK get free healthcare it's not unreasonable to expect the minimum number if scans for a healthy pregnancy. If your m/w or Dr has concerns then yeah, you'll have more.
I get more over here (probably 4 over all) but I pay a small cost for each as they are subsadised, not free. And even here most normal pregnancies only get 2 may be 3 as that's all that really needed in most cases. M/w are damn good at working out size etc
I'm not saying the NHS is perfect, cos it's very definitley not, but is a good enough system, look what you DO get for free, I think it's great they provide free appts, scans, free dental care etc.
i am a huge fan of the nhs - i have a great deal of respect for our healthcare system and am grateful to live in a country which provides the level of care which we receive. however, i don't agree when anyone says we receive this for "free" - it's never been free.
OP - would you agree to an increase in tax to fund these additional scans?!
no i wouldnt... i believe we pay enough tax as it is and in my personal experience and opinion i dont think the health care we recieve is worth what we pay! ...
Very, very few people pay enough taxes in their lifetime to even cover the most basic elements of their healthcare. The cost of maternity care alone is phenomenal before we start talking about investigative procedures especially in the over 50's, drugs for chronic illness, care of the long term sick, geriatric nursing care/hospital stays.
A patient can come to a medical recieving ward with chest pain (a pretty common complaint) ,be cared for by a nursing team, medical team and sometimes physiotherapy, dietician, smoking cessation services. They will recieve basic tests, telemetry overseen by a CCU and consultant, will have ECG, blood tests and urinalysis using NHS funded equipment (which are then analysed by biochemistry) and that's BEFORE anything more than the basics is performed or drugs are prescribed from pharmacy. I don't think the above statement shows any idea of the reality of just what kind of resources one avergae individual will consume in the NHS in a lifetime, let alone if you are unfortunate enough to suffer more than your share of ill health.
I am a very healthy person, so rarely use the NHS. However, in the course of maternity care alone I have had off the top of my head(free at the point of access):
2 hospital confinements.
2 geneticist consultations.
1 ECV.
15 ultrasound scans.
1 homebirth.
All my GP/consultant and midwife appointments, including blood tests, urinalysis, doppler of babies heartbeat.
Paediatric check up.
Entonox.
postnatal checkups.
How much do you think that comes to in real money, and that's without intervention, anasthesia or surgery or any of the other that are regulary performed in facilitating women in childbirth?
Soooo many people are sent for scans and scared to death when they are told they are having a 10lb baby and then out pops an 8lb'er!!! So to suggest our healthcare give us more scans is just ridiculous!!! Like so many other people have stated pregnancy and childbirth isn't an illness. It's only been in the last century (maybe less!) that women gave birth in hospitals! Before u did it all at home, as it's a natural, everyday thing!! So the fact we get treatment from the NHS at ALL is bloody good IMO!! Your tax doesn't just go to the NHS, a small portion of it does... and no way would this even start to cover how much u would have to pay if u went private, so no you aren't ''overpaying'' either!! If you want extra scans, pay for them like the rest of us do!!! I've paid for 2 private scans now and they are expensive, but I was happy to do so because it's not up to the NHS to predict the weight of my child!!
) its a good system and people are lucky that they dont have to dip into their pockets everything they want to see a Dr, have a scan etc etc etc
