How Hard Is It To Get A Dentist Appointment With No N H S Dentist ?

[Scully]

55 minutes ago, oowee said:

Market demands we pay them more. Same with doctors, teachers and the like. 12 years of cutting back training and pay, what would we expect? 

My dentist is NHS but you would hardly know given the charges and exclusions. 

In the high end restaurant where my OH works, they had a party of eight female teachers in this afternoon, celebrating the break up for the summer hols. 
I won’t say what their bill was, but apparently they were drinking cocktails like they were going out of fashion. No cost of living crisis apparent there it would seem. 🤷‍♂️

[amateur]

1 hour ago, Rewulf said:

It's hardly peanuts is it ?

Ah, but they are not getting a raise in line with inflation, like us lucky folk drawing a government pension of oh, less than half of what they earn as new starters!

 

[Yellow Bear]

8 minutes ago, amateur said:

Ah, but they are not getting a raise in line with inflation, like us lucky folk drawing a government pension of oh, less than half of what they earn as new starters!

 

Less than a quarter of a starter teacher for basic state pension.

[oowee]

2 hours ago, Rewulf said:

What is the average salary for a dentist in the UK?

 

If you work as a salaried dentist employed by the NHS, mainly in community dental services, you'll earn around £43,019 to £92,013. In NHS trust hospitals, consultants in dental specialties earn a basic salary of £84,559 to £114,003 depending on the number of years spent in the consultant grade.

 

Junior (in training ) doctors earn between 40 - 50k a year
Consultants earn between 100-150k a year

 

Teachers start at around 30k and move upwards to 40k (my partners daughter however is a 'basic' teacher and earns 46k per year ?)
This comes with 6 weeks paid holiday.

 

Its hardly peanuts is it ?

 

Simply not enough for the market. 

[discobob]

5 hours ago, NoBodyImportant said:

I hope it’s not anything like Canada.  I have a beach house in North Carolina and the Dentist down there are slammed with Canadians.  They come down to get fillings and emergency care.  I had to get a crown replaced down there and went in for a walk in appointment.  The entire place was packed with Canadians.  They were saying it takes forever to get appointments so when they have an emergency they come south to get it fixed.  So they use it as a reason to spend a week at the beach.  One guy was telling me his options was to drive 8 hours away from the cities to get a quick appointment or cross the border.  

I wonder if that is a way to tell how socialist a country is by the state of peoples teeth????

Shortly after moving into the Motherland of the Socialist Dictatorship of Wales, I had a tooth shatter around a massive filing (Molar) leaving the filling sticking out with no tooth around it, I phoned NHS Direct (Wales) and 5 hours later and several phone calls I got the final statement that there wasn't a dentist, private or NHS, in Wales that would see me - goodbye.

I went to the dentist that some family went to in St Helens, after a quick phone call and was seen the same day and had a temporary crown fitted and then a proper crown shortly after - grand total of £200.

I managed to get myself into a local dentist a few years ago - she is as mad as hatter - and only takes cash!!

[GingerCat]

I've been private for about 20 years, it costs me 20 quid a month. I get an appointment normally this same day and definitely within 24 hrs in an emergency. Fillings cost about 30 quid more than the NHS. Check ups and hyginest are included in that 20 quid a month. See them 4 times a year. Never waited in the room, never given me any carp I always get with an NHS dentist. Would never ever go NHS dentist again. My small town has at least 3 such practices and an NHS dentist. No one says anything good about the hs dentist and often 1 visit is enough to never go back. 

I'd do the same with health care if similarly priced. 

[marsh man]

1 hour ago, GingerCat said:

I've been private for about 20 years, it costs me 20 quid a month. I get an appointment normally this same day and definitely within 24 hrs in an emergency. Fillings cost about 30 quid more than the NHS. Check ups and hyginest are included in that 20 quid a month. See them 4 times a year. Never waited in the room, never given me any carp I always get with an NHS dentist. Would never ever go NHS dentist again. My small town has at least 3 such practices and an NHS dentist. No one says anything good about the hs dentist and often 1 visit is enough to never go back. 

I'd do the same with health care if similarly priced. 

Loyality at my ex dentist was virtually non existant , I remember once I went for a normal check up and at the time it was about £26 , when the dentist done the check up she said I needed some kind of filling that would take about three visits and she could do the first stage the next morning ,fair enough , I went to pay and the lady at the counter said it would be 60 odd quid , as I only had about £30 on me I said can I bring the rest in the morning , No you have to pay before you have the treatment , so I went back home and got some more money and then went back this was about a 12 mile return trip , when I went back in there was a q of about 7 or 8  of all sorts of nationalities , all of them were holding a sheet of paper that just had to signed , It was a good bet that I was the only one who had to pay , that I didn't mind but not being able to pay the next day was a bit much as I had then been on there books for over 40 years and never owed them a penny , maybe the private route might now be the best bet , or at the moment the only option .

Edited July 20, 2023 by marsh man

[NoBodyImportant]

1 hour ago, discobob said:

I wonder if that is a way to tell how socialist a country is by the state of peoples teeth????

Shortly after moving into the Motherland of the Socialist Dictatorship of Wales, I had a tooth shatter around a massive filing (Molar) leaving the filling sticking out with no tooth around it, I phoned NHS Direct (Wales) and 5 hours later and several phone calls I got the final statement that there wasn't a dentist, private or NHS, in Wales that would see me - goodbye.

I went to the dentist that some family went to in St Helens, after a quick phone call and was seen the same day and had a temporary crown fitted and then a proper crown shortly after - grand total of £200.

I managed to get myself into a local dentist a few years ago - she is as mad as hatter - and only takes cash!!

I believe it.  Like I said half of everyone at Holden Beach in the states are Canadian.  The come down for everything from teeth care to cancer treatments.  Apparently some Canadians buy health insurance in the USA.  On my street two of the fishing shacks are owned by Canadians.  Extremely nice people. They drive down about twice a year.  Same family owns both shacks.  They get their check ups and stuff while in town.  

[TOPGUN749]

2 hours ago, GingerCat said:

I've been private for about 20 years, it costs me 20 quid a month. I get an appointment normally this same day and definitely within 24 hrs in an emergency. Fillings cost about 30 quid more than the NHS. Check ups and hyginest are included in that 20 quid a month. See them 4 times a year. Never waited in the room, never given me any carp I always get with an NHS dentist. Would never ever go NHS dentist again. My small town has at least 3 such practices and an NHS dentist. No one says anything good about the hs dentist and often 1 visit is enough to never go back. 

I'd do the same with health care if similarly priced. 

You will pay £30 more for one filling, so for example you needed 3, it would cost you about £250,whereas where I live the Nhs do the whole treatment for £47. On top of that you have the £240 a year Denplan or similar so a check up is costing you about £80 also the hygienist visit. A check up is £14 here and free if over 60.

I was forced to go private for a few years, cost me a fortune,probably a total of £500 a year,now luckily with the nhs it’s around £100 or less on average.

[GingerCat]

I can claim on insurance if needed. 20 quid a month is worth it vs the trauma of an NHS dentist. I'm a long way from 60. Works out around 60 quid a visit. The NHS dentist was 30 odd quid and you'd struggle to get an appointment, if you needed a filling you had to book another appointment despite telling them for example a filling had fallen  out. Literally opened my mouth for him to say oh yes it has fallen out book another appointment for a filling (5 week wait).  Walked round to the private dentist, signed up, seen later that day and recieved a pain free filling moments later. Grand total of 60 quid. I remarked that normally the painkiller was like a scaffolding pole being rammed into the roof of my mouth and I didn't feel it that time, he chuckled and said you only feel it if they do a poor job and that i had had 3 injections.

Everyone I know that's gone private says similar and won't go back. 

[Jonty]

On 20/07/2023 at 23:06, GingerCat said:

I can claim on insurance if needed. 20 quid a month is worth it vs the trauma of an NHS dentist. I'm a long way from 60. Works out around 60 quid a visit. The NHS dentist was 30 odd quid and you'd struggle to get an appointment, if you needed a filling you had to book another appointment despite telling them for example a filling had fallen  out. Literally opened my mouth for him to say oh yes it has fallen out book another appointment for a filling (5 week wait).  Walked round to the private dentist, signed up, seen later that day and recieved a pain free filling moments later. Grand total of 60 quid. I remarked that normally the painkiller was like a scaffolding pole being rammed into the roof of my mouth and I didn't feel it that time, he chuckled and said you only feel it if they do a poor job and that i had had 3 injections.

Everyone I know that's gone private says similar and won't go back. 

I’m the same, I pay £50 a month for three of us, we get 2 check ups and 2 hygienists a year out of that and also 80% of the cost of any work paid back through the insurance. My teeth are rubbish and it works for me, I’ve had enough abscesses and broken teeth/fillings to not want to be in the NHS dental lottery I’m afraid.  I once called at 4pm on Christmas Eve when I started getting a twinge of toothache - worried about going through the holiday in pain, I expected to get an NHS emergency number.  Two hours later I was sitting in my own dentists chair with his brother (also a dentist) acting as his nurse whilst I had root canal work - that cost me £40 call out, I’m definitely a convert.. 

[steve s×s]

On 20/07/2023 at 16:17, Rewulf said:

What is the average salary for a dentist in the UK?

 

If you work as a salaried dentist employed by the NHS, mainly in community dental services, you'll earn around £43,019 to £92,013. In NHS trust hospitals, consultants in dental specialties earn a basic salary of £84,559 to £114,003 depending on the number of years spent in the consultant grade.

 

Junior (in training ) doctors earn between 40 - 50k a year
Consultants earn between 100-150k a year

 

Teachers start at around 30k and move upwards to 40k (my partners daughter however is a 'basic' teacher and earns 46k per year ?)
This comes with 6 weeks paid holiday.

 

Its hardly peanuts is it ?

 

Poor *******, I don't know how they make ends meet 

[Rewulf]

34 minutes ago, steve s×s said:

Poor *******, I don't know how they make ends meet 

And those junior doctors were striking for a 40% pay rise !

[Lloyd90]

On 20/07/2023 at 16:17, Rewulf said:

What is the average salary for a dentist in the UK?

 

If you work as a salaried dentist employed by the NHS, mainly in community dental services, you'll earn around £43,019 to £92,013. In NHS trust hospitals, consultants in dental specialties earn a basic salary of £84,559 to £114,003 depending on the number of years spent in the consultant grade.

 

Junior (in training ) doctors earn between 40 - 50k a year
Consultants earn between 100-150k a year

 

Teachers start at around 30k and move upwards to 40k (my partners daughter however is a 'basic' teacher and earns 46k per year ?)
This comes with 6 weeks paid holiday.

 

Its hardly peanuts is it ?

 

£46,000 May have been a good wage when the 60 and 70 year olds on this forum were starting out in work, but with years of high inflation and low pay rises, earning £46,000 in this day and age, living anywhere that’s not a deprived area with normal house prices, unless you have a major inheritance or gift, it’s not enough to get you on the housing ladder. 
 

Unless you want a very basic quality of life, it’s not enough for your wife/partner to stay at home and look after the kids. 
 

If you are youngish as you’d expect, if you have kids and are looking at nursery fees and other costs (sky high house / mortgage costs, energy bills through the roof, food and other essentials high) there isn’t going to be much left over. 
 

Once again we have people on this forum complaining about the state of public services, whilst blaming the staff within those services for taking jobs that in reality see them working less for significantly increased pay. 
 

Market forces rule as usual. 

[ShootingEgg]

2 minutes ago, Lloyd90 said:

Unless you want a very basic quality of life, it’s not enough for your wife/partner to stay at home and look after the kids

To be fair that's quite an old fashion way of looking at things though. Okay my OH would love me to earn more and her not work. I told her to jog on haha. 

But gone are the days of women stay home and men are the bread winners..

 

[Lloyd90]

On 20/07/2023 at 16:55, Scully said:

In the high end restaurant where my OH works, they had a party of eight female teachers in this afternoon, celebrating the break up for the summer hols. 
I won’t say what their bill was, but apparently they were drinking cocktails like they were going out of fashion. No cost of living crisis apparent there it would seem. 🤷‍♂️

What relevance is this? 

Whilst some teachers will be deeply impacted by the years of below inflation pay rises, there will always be some who by circumstances have low outgoing, or other circumstances that mean the pay isn’t an issue. 
 

That group of women clearly could afford it. 
 

You’re not exactly going to see a group of teachers who can’t afford it out doing that are you? That’s the whole point. 

 

I know people in the Police, Fire Service, Doctors, teachers and all sorts who work there because they enjoy it, and have a lot of wealth regardless… they’re not representative of the entire profession. 

2 minutes ago, ShootingEgg said:

To be fair that's quite an old fashion way of looking at things though. Okay my OH would love me to earn more and her not work. I told her to jog on haha. 

But gone are the days of women stay home and men are the bread winners..

 

The difference now is, women (or even the man) are supposed to have a choice, the choice to stay at home or go to work. 
 

The old fashion view was that they HAD TO stay at home. 
 

With the current cost of everything, especially housing, that choice is gone, as both partners HAVE TO have a job simply for the affordability scales to get the mortgage, or have the money coming in to stay on top of it all. 

[Rewulf]

16 hours ago, Lloyd90 said:

£46,000 May have been a good wage when the 60 and 70 year olds on this forum were starting out in work

Are you being serious ? £46k a year back then, is equivalent to £350k pa now !
I dont know about your parents, but I can assure you, there werent many people on that kind of money back then.

 

16 hours ago, Lloyd90 said:

If you are youngish as you’d expect, if you have kids and are looking at nursery fees and other costs (sky high house / mortgage costs, energy bills through the roof, food and other essentials high) there isn’t going to be much left over. 

Im actually a bit surprised , and disappointed in that attitude Lloyd, you work in social care do you not , and you know full well that there are a vast number of people who run families, cars ect, and do very well on half of a junior doctors pay.

 

16 hours ago, Lloyd90 said:

Once again we have people on this forum complaining about the state of public services, whilst blaming the staff within those services for taking jobs that in reality see them working less for significantly increased pay. 

This is the problem, the public sector services have developed a degree of entitlement.
We are told that nurses are 'struggling' to make ends meet , visiting foodbanks and having to do without ... on their 37.5 hr week and £35000 a year  BEFORE overtime and night shift bonus.
This attitude prevails across the services, like an ever growing blob of wage increases that seem to dwarf anything in the private sector, both I and my partner both work 50 hour weeks , she is a regional sales manager for a large multinational, responsible for an area between Nottingham and Aberdeen, her salary is £33000 pa.
Im self employed with a car repair shop, Im about £28 k pa gross.
We live separately , both run houses, cars , children , and have at least 2 foreign holidays a year , eat out ect.

We pay GOOD money to the public sector, some NHS managers are on £100000 + pa , for a short working week , and their performance is dire, yet they go on strike because its not enough ?
Holding the country to ransom , putting peoples health at risk , because they want more, they ought to try putting more in , not less , as they have been doing since covid elevated them to sainthood collectively.

More and more people going private , wont save the NHS , it will destroy it, along with the bankroll that funds it.
At least then, the entitlement will disappear , as those that 'struggled' in the public sector, will find out what real struggle is in the private.

[discobob]

@Rewulf And don't forget agency work when they are off shift at a crazy rate....

[johnphilip]

34 minutes ago, Rewulf said:

Are you being serious ? £46k a year back then, is equivalent to £350k pa now !
I dont know about your parents, but I can assure you, there werent many people on that kind of money back then.

 

Im actually a bit surprised , and disappointed in that attitude Lloyd, you work in social care do you not , and you know full well that there are a vast number of people who run families, cars ect, and do very well on half of a junior doctors pay.

 

This is the problem, the public sector services have developed a degree of entitlement.
We are told that nurses are 'struggling' to make ends meet , visiting foodbanks and having to do without ... on their 37.5 hr week and £35000 a year  BEFORE overtime and night shift bonus.
This attitude prevails across the services, like an ever growing blob of wage increases that seem to dwarf anything in the private sector, both I and my partner both work 50 hour weeks , she is a regional sales manager for a large multinational, responsible for an area between Nottingham and Aberdeen, her salary is £33000 pa.
Im self employed with a car repair shop, Im about £28 k pa gross.
We live separately , both run houses, cars , children , and have at least 2 foreign holidays a year , eat out ect.

We pay GOOD money to the public sector, some NHS managers are on £100000 + pa , for a short working week , and their performance is dire, yet they go on strike because its not enough ?
Holding the country to ransom , putting peoples health at risk , because they want more, they ought to try putting more in , not less , as they have been doing since covid elevated them to sainthood collectively.

More and more people going private , wont save the NHS , it will destroy it, along with the bankroll that funds it.
At least then, the entitlement will disappear , as those that 'struggled' in the public sector, will find out what real struggle is in the private.

I was married in 1971. I was a bus driver. Wage per week top line app £30  a week × 52 =  so around £1500  a year less take off tax , stamp ect . Mortgages were not cheap then. 

[Rewulf]

18 minutes ago, johnphilip said:

I was married in 1971. I was a bus driver. Wage per week top line app £30  a week × 52 =  so around £1500  a year less take off tax , stamp ect . Mortgages were not cheap then. 

So not £46000 ? 

Believe it or not , they arent that now !

'The average salary for Bus Driver is £31,401 per year in the London. The average additional cash compensation for a Bus Driver in the London is £1,082, with a range from £207 - £5,639. Salaries estimates are based on 355 salaries submitted anonymously to Glassdoor by Bus Driver employees in London.'

38 minutes ago, discobob said:

@Rewulf And don't forget agency work when they are off shift at a crazy rate....

[Lloyd90]

56 minutes ago, Rewulf said:

Are you being serious ? £46k a year back then, is equivalent to £350k pa now !
I dont know about your parents, but I can assure you, there werent many people on that kind of money back then.

 

Im actually a bit surprised , and disappointed in that attitude Lloyd, you work in social care do you not , and you know full well that there are a vast number of people who run families, cars ect, and do very well on half of a junior doctors pay.

 

This is the problem, the public sector services have developed a degree of entitlement.
We are told that nurses are 'struggling' to make ends meet , visiting foodbanks and having to do without ... on their 37.5 hr week and £35000 a year  BEFORE overtime and night shift bonus.
This attitude prevails across the services, like an ever growing blob of wage increases that seem to dwarf anything in the private sector, both I and my partner both work 50 hour weeks , she is a regional sales manager for a large multinational, responsible for an area between Nottingham and Aberdeen, her salary is £33000 pa.
Im self employed with a car repair shop, Im about £28 k pa gross.
We live separately , both run houses, cars , children , and have at least 2 foreign holidays a year , eat out ect.

We pay GOOD money to the public sector, some NHS managers are on £100000 + pa , for a short working week , and their performance is dire, yet they go on strike because its not enough ?
Holding the country to ransom , putting peoples health at risk , because they want more, they ought to try putting more in , not less , as they have been doing since covid elevated them to sainthood collectively.

More and more people going private , wont save the NHS , it will destroy it, along with the bankroll that funds it.
At least then, the entitlement will disappear , as those that 'struggled' in the public sector, will find out what real struggle is in the private.

 

Yes, I do work in Social Care.

There are plenty of people who ‘make do’ on half what junior Doctors make but so what? I definitely would not say they ‘do very well’… especially in the current climate of inflated costs, utilities, bills and mortgages. 
 

We have record numbers of staff approaching our HR department having to notify us that they are taking on second jobs. Social workers and other qualified staff doing shifts in the evening for care agencies etc just to make a bit extra and try to stay on top. If they had it so easy you’d think that wouldn’t be needed.  

 

If you as a qualified medical Doctor aren’t making significantly more than the ‘average person’ then surely you have to ask yourself what’s wrong with the system? What is the incentive for them to stay here? 
 

As noted, market forces, we have a shortage of nurses and doctors, many are going abroad where they will work less hours, see less patients, be less stressed, and get MUCH better pay. 
 

When I was out in Florida recently, I had a drink with 2 nurses who both noted they earn well over $120,000. 
 

 

Re the private sector, I worked there for years, I often won awards/recognition as a ‘top performer’, got bonuses and perks that aren’t seen in the public sector at all. 
 

In the private sector I got significant incentive to perform highly. 
 

In the public sector, the harder I work and the more I take on, not only do I get no bonus or very limited recognition, I then get even more work piled on top (which I experienced when working in the Hospital discharge team). I was running a case load 3x the size of several of the other staff, and just quit and moved job in the end as fed up of them leaving the lazy do minimal and piling the work onto the hard workers. 
 

I took quite a pay cut to come into Social work at the beginning, although I have been promoted several times now so I’m in a good position and I am very secure and don’t feel hard done by etc. 

 

 

Re entitlement, there are many issues on both sides, the Country seems to feel entitled to free health services yet very few people take responsibility for their health, with conditions from drugs, booze, obesity, and all sorts costing billions, fertility treatments, gender treatments, people pretending to have MH issues so they can have free cosmetic surgery, people getting free prescriptions when they could buy the same medications for a pound. 
 

There are many issues across the board, but there has without a doubt been significant wage stagnation in the U.K. and with current rises a drop in living standards. 

[Rewulf]

10 minutes ago, Lloyd90 said:

There are plenty of people who ‘make do’ on half what junior Doctors make but so what? I definitely would not say they ‘do very well’… especially in the current climate of inflated costs, utilities, bills and mortgages. 

11 minutes ago, Lloyd90 said:

We have record numbers of staff approaching our HR department having to notify us that they are taking on second jobs. Social workers and other qualified staff doing shifts in the evening for care agencies etc just to make a bit extra and try to stay on top. If they had it so easy you’d think that wouldn’t be needed.  

Sounds like some people need to learn how to budget then ?
If they are on £40-50 k pa , and there are people like the examples Ive given , who not only 'make do' but live quite comfortably, on half that salary, it begs the question , are they living beyond their publicly funded means ?

 

13 minutes ago, Lloyd90 said:

In the public sector, the harder I work and the more I take on, not only do I get no bonus or very limited recognition, I then get even more work piled on top (which I experienced when working in the Hospital discharge team). I was running a case load 3x the size of several of the other staff, and just quit and moved job in the end as fed up of them leaving the lazy do minimal and piling the work onto the hard workers. 

And there you have it , in the private sector , these people who are lazy and underperforming would be shown the door.

 

15 minutes ago, Lloyd90 said:

Re entitlement, there are many issues on both sides, the Country seems to feel entitled to free health services yet very few people take responsibility for their health, with conditions from drugs, booze, obesity, and all sorts costing billions, fertility treatments, gender treatments, people pretending to have MH issues so they can have free cosmetic surgery, people getting free prescriptions when they could buy the same medications for a pound. 

Agreed.

 

15 minutes ago, Lloyd90 said:

There are many issues across the board, but there has without a doubt been significant wage stagnation in the U.K. and with current rises a drop in living standards. 

Again , its a case of cutting your cloth accordingly, the entitlement issue is the problem.
Sometimes the country falls on lean times , but public sector workers feel they shouldnt have to suffer the same as everyone else does.

[Lloyd90]

24 minutes ago, Rewulf said:

Sounds like some people need to learn how to budget then ?
If they are on £40-50 k pa , and there are people like the examples Ive given , who not only 'make do' but live quite comfortably, on half that salary, it begs the question , are they living beyond their publicly funded means ?

 

And there you have it , in the private sector , these people who are lazy and underperforming would be shown the door.

 

Agreed.

 

Again , its a case of cutting your cloth accordingly, the entitlement issue is the problem.
Sometimes the country falls on lean times , but public sector workers feel they shouldnt have to suffer the same as everyone else does.

Re cutting their cloth or people living comfortably, there’s so many factors involved it’s hard to have a one size fits all. 
 

As usual people will see one single example in isolation and apply it to everyone, just yesterday someone here complained they saw a bunch of young teachers out for cocktails so noted their is not cost or living crisis for teachers. 
 

Those sort of blanket statements are not helpful or realistic. 
 

There will be public servants earning average of £30k a year, their partner may earn the same or more, their parents may do their childcare 1-2 days a week, they may have been gifted a deposit to get on the housing ladder, they may be living in the North East, or Wales, etc where housing or the cost of living is significantly less.
 

I have no doubt someone in that position would be able to live relatively comfortably. 
 

Then you may have a public servant on £30k a year living in the South East or Bristol (where I live and it’s becoming as expensive as London), their parents may died when they were young so no free child care, they didn’t get a deposit gifted to get on the housing ladder, they rent and the cost is higher than a mortgage. Their partner may make less than them, or their partner may or walked out on them (my wife has several friends or acquaintances she knows of who’s blokes this year / last year cheated on them and just walked out with other women, leaving them alone with very young children). 
 

Those same public servants could be on the exact same money but one would be able to live very comfortably and the other is probably the ‘nurse forced to use food banks’ as struggling to make ends meet. 
 

 

 

The country has been on ‘lean times’ for coming up 13 years is it? 
 

Anyone watching the news can see the state of services at the moment is appalling, and as someone who works in the public sector there is a serious sense of entitlement from the publics expectation of public services. 
 

Every night we get phone calls from family members who due to a sudden emergency their relative is unsafe at home (usually the wife /husband who’s their carer has been admitted to Hospital). 
 

These people expect you to get a 24/7 carer into their family home whilst giving you less than an hours notice, and god forbid you suggest they give some support themselves as you need reasonable time to assess and make arrangements. 
 

 

There is a serious gap in people’s expectations of what the state should provide, and who’s going to pay for it. 

[Rewulf]

38 minutes ago, Lloyd90 said:

Those sort of blanket statements are not helpful or realistic. 

How many teachers do you know that are struggling financially ?

 

39 minutes ago, Lloyd90 said:

There will be public servants earning average of £30k a year, their partner may earn the same or more, their parents may do their childcare 1-2 days a week, they may have been gifted a deposit to get on the housing ladder, they may be living in the North East, or Wales, etc where housing or the cost of living is significantly less.

We dont all get the same chances in life , thats well, life.

 

40 minutes ago, Lloyd90 said:

Those same public servants could be on the exact same money but one would be able to live very comfortably and the other is probably the ‘nurse forced to use food banks’ as struggling to make ends meet. 

But this is exactly the point, is the nurse struggling because they are not paid enough, or their personal circumstances (possibly through no fault of their own) are different?

 

41 minutes ago, Lloyd90 said:

The country has been on ‘lean times’ for coming up 13 years is it? 

Aah , its the tories fault ?
Under labour , things were exactly the same , if not worse.

 

43 minutes ago, Lloyd90 said:

Anyone watching the news can see the state of services at the moment is appalling, and as someone who works in the public sector there is a serious sense of entitlement from the publics expectation of public services. 

Is it the publics fault they are appalling ?
We have been lead to believe that those services, that we pay for out of our taxes , are there when we need them.
We will end up with rotten teeth , and fewer old people (because they died before their time) because those services were managed poorly , and their pay was constantly used to bribe governments into giving them more.
You constantly hear , we need more doctors and nurses, we already have a million of them, how many do we need ?
And how are we going to pay for them ?

 

47 minutes ago, Lloyd90 said:

There is a serious gap in people’s expectations of what the state should provide, and who’s going to pay for it. 

Youre not wrong, people expect to be treated before they die of their ailments, many dont get that.
Ive called my GP for a quick phone consultation , Ive been told to wait a month to get that , the surgery is constantly empty, mainly because they just send everyone to walk in centres or AE , thats one thing that should be fixed pronto.

If the NHS isnt working , and people who have had to go private are still having to pay for a system they cant use, should they not be reimbursed ?
If your broadband supplier cant give you the services you pay for , what would you do ?

[Scully]

20 hours ago, Lloyd90 said:

What relevance is this? 

Whilst some teachers will be deeply impacted by the years of below inflation pay rises, there will always be some who by circumstances have low outgoing, or other circumstances that mean the pay isn’t an issue. 
 

That group of women clearly could afford it. 
 

You’re not exactly going to see a group of teachers who can’t afford it out doing that are you? That’s the whole point. 

 

I know people in the Police, Fire Service, Doctors, teachers and all sorts who work there because they enjoy it, and have a lot of wealth regardless… they’re not representative of the entire profession. 

 

Well quite relevant really. I can’t speak for most of them, but given that two of them were in town around a month ago singing happy clappy songs and slogans about teachers pay, while their mates handed out fliers about how poorly off they were as teachers. 
It’s a small village school ( yes, only the one ) with no where to hide their affluence really. 
I’m of the opinion that if someone is struggling on more than 40k a year, they should perhaps be having a good look at their priorities. 🤷‍♂️