Why should I pay National Insurance?

[Jacques]

I contacted the NHS and asked if they could provide a list of GUM clinics nationwide that provide HIV/STD certs and what the cost for each clinic would be. Pretty simple?

And to be fair they did get back to me pretty quickly however, all I got back was a link to site listing all GUM clinics a link to a site where I could find PCT's and a link to who knows what as it was a 404 with the suggestion that I ring round and ask.

Now the point of me contacting the NHS was because logically they would know and have the information to hand instead of me having to spend hours on the phone?

So tell me why I should pay National Insurance contributions if that is the level of service I am to get.

[Jacques]

I made a complaint about the level of service I got:

Unfortunately, we have been unable to locate an appropriate reference to the cost of a sexual health or HIV certificate or which GUM clinics provide this service. However, we have been able to provide references on where to get a HIV test and a full sexual health check up which we hope you find useful. We have also provided links for you to search for your local GUM clinic, with your full postcode, so that they may help you further with your enquiry. You may also wish to contact your local primary care trust (PCT) for further advice on services in your area. We have also provided a link to search for your local PCT.

So there you have it....utterly fucking useless bunch of cunts.

[Jacques]

It get's better after further correspondence:

Thank you for your enquiries today. We have supplied all the information we have available to us and as previously explained we cannot tell which Clinics supply the certficate you require. I hope you will be able to use the conatct details to call your nearest clinics to check what services they provide, opening times, etc. I am sorry we are unable to help you further with this enquiry.

They haven't a clue and won't do the work to find out either. Tell me again why I pay National Insurance contributions because this isn't an acceptable level of service.

[Sam Slater]

They haven't been very helpful I must say.

Due to my degree, I work within a hospital regularly. Each individual hospital has it's own budget depending on it's catchment area, so I guess you'd have to contact each GUM clinic individually.

[Jacques]

But surely to God they must have a central point to colate information on what each catchment area sepends it's money on and what it does? Stop me if I'm making sense here.....

Now you don't have to go to your local GUM, you can go to any one of them, so how do they budget for that?

[Sam Slater]

[quote]But surely to God they must have a central point to colate information on what each catchment area sepends it's money on and what it does?[/quote]

Maybe at government level they do, but I doubt they see this info as an essential public service..............unfortunately.

[quote]Now you don't have to go to your local GUM, you can go to any one of them, so how do they budget for that?[/quote]

They can't, that's why some GUM clinics take people who just walk in, whist other clinics have a 2-4 week waiting list!

[planeterotica]

Jacques wrote:

> They haven't a clue and won't do the work to find out either.

planeterotica wrote:

This is probably more to the point, we all know that the NHS is top heavy with penpushers and they cannot even be bothered to make an effort to find the answer to your enquiry!sad!

[Dopey]

Personally I don't know what you're all moaning about- Maybe you'd rather pay for private health insurance or private health care and then choose which GUI clinic (which will most likely be situated in an NHS hospital anyway)? It's infinately more expensive to do that, trust me (I work in the private health sector). Or maybe you'd like to stop making NI contributions altogether so that next time you fall off a ladder/slip on your arse/whatever and break a bone, the local casualty dept. would be well within their rights to tell you to fuck off and deal with it. Stop being so childish and get off your own arse and find the info you want instead of blaming someone else for YOUR laziness.

[Jacques]

Firstly I pay for private health care for the simple reason that the NHS is shite. Now, as I pay NI but don't use the service execpt for accident and emergency, explain to me why I should have to pay so much for such a shoddy service, should I not get a reduction as I am not a burden?

Lazy? No. Practical? Yes. Do you think I really have the time to call every single GUM Clinic in the UK to find out which do certs and which do not and how much it costs when a single resource ought to have the answer?

Are you going to pay my phone bill and for the time and work I've lost? No? I thought not.

Dopey by name and dopey by nature.