Royal College of Physicians

1 Comment Posted on Patient Talk

Should healthcare be free at the point of deliver? Have your say.

Healthcare professionals should they be free?

Healthcare professionals should they be free?

The last few decades have seen regular calls for “healthcare reform” from all sides of the political spectrum. Indeed Obamacare has been on the US statutes for some time. How is that working out for you by the way?

In the UK this morning healthcare reform (and funding) was back on the political agenda. The BBC’s web site today reports “Leading figures from the health world are calling for a national debate on how the NHS in England is funded. In a letter to The Times, they say challenges from an ageing population mean the system is “creaking at the seams” and cannot continue as it is. Signatories include the heads of the Royal College of Physicians and Royal College of Nursing. The BBC’s health editor says the group feels future options may include higher taxes or charges for some treatment.”

Which means, I suppose , that there is some attempt to solve the whole funding crisis of the UK’s healthcare system. Which, of course, is what Obamacare hopes to achieve.

In the UK as many of our readers know the National Health Service offers its services (which are more or less universal) at no cost when actually receiving treatment. Often referred to as “free at the point of delivery”. I should mention here that the services are not free but are paid for by the UK taxpayer.

But , for some, this model is past its sell by date.

They argue that changes in medical technology and increased life expectancy mean we are going to have to rethink how we find healthcare.

But that does not automatically mean that free at the point of access is a bad idea. I’m really interested in what my readers think. We have set up a poll below to find out what you are consumers of medicine and healthcare think. So it would be really great if you could take part.

I would also be really useful if you could share your thoughts in more detail in the comments section below.

Many thanks in advance.


7 Comments Posted on Pain Management, Patient Talk

Complex Regional Pain Syndrome. Come over and tell your story


Complex Regional pain syndrome

Complex Regional pain syndrome

Welcome to the latest in our series of pain and pain management blogs.  To have a look at the previous stuff we have covered please go to https://patienttalk.org/?tag=pain-management.

Today we want to focus on Complex Regional Pain Syndrome or CRPS. A little understood medical syndrome but one which, according to the Britain’s Royal College of Physicians, 12,500 or so people are diagnosed with each year in the UK.  For more information on this and other aspects of CRPS this article is worth reading http://www.rcplondon.ac.uk/sites/default/files/documents/complex-regional-pain-full-guideline.pdf.

The objective of this blog is to give people who have RCPS an opportunity to share their pain management story with other people with the condition and their caregivers.

One of the main issues is that the causes of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome are not yet fully understood but it often manifests after an injury.  The key issue is that the pain that results from the injury is much greater than the sufferer, typically, would expect.

The pain which is, for most, the key symptom, has been described as “(chronic) burning pain in one of their limbs”. Though in some cases it can be in more than one limb. I was told this was true in around 7% of cases.

While the condition often disappears a few days after the injury in some cases it can continue for months and years.  It is advised that patients receive treatment as soon as possible to improve long term outcomes.

So how is CRPS it treated?  Normally in three ways:-

a)      Medications – such as pain killers and anti-inflammatory.

b)      Physiotherapy

c)       Counselling to help the patient come to terms with the effects of pain

 

This is where you come in.

It would be great if you could share your CRPS story with our readers.  The following questions may be useful:-

 

1)      What do you think caused your CRPS?

2)      How would you describe the pain and other symptoms?

3)      How long did the symptoms last?

4)      How did you treat your CRPS and how effective were these treatments?

Please feel free to share anything you think may be of interest with our readers.  Any links to useful sites would be great.

Many thanks in advance.