It was time for my bi-annual tooth check up at my local NHS (accepting) dentist, a joyous time in any Englishman's life . To my good fortune their was only a black man in front of me in the queue at the reception.
"Do you get treatment for free or do you pay?" asked the receptionist to the bloke. "Yes indeedee, I do da free one" replied the black man, in what was some sort of African accent.
Which surprised me because I've seen people consistently say immigrants don't help themselves to benefits in this country, so I was really lucky to have found the only one.
Then it was my turn and the young attractive girl behind the counter (who was totally undressing me in her mind, the fiend) asked me "Do you pay for your treatment?". I replied "of course I do" and while I'm fidgeting around for the £21.60 fee, I'm thinking to myself 'and I'm paying for fucking his as well'.
"Do you get treatment for free or do you pay?" asked the receptionist to the bloke. "Yes indeedee, I do da free one" replied the black man, in what was some sort of African accent.
Which surprised me because I've seen people consistently say immigrants don't help themselves to benefits in this country, so I was really lucky to have found the only one.
Then it was my turn and the young attractive girl behind the counter (who was totally undressing me in her mind, the fiend) asked me "Do you pay for your treatment?". I replied "of course I do" and while I'm fidgeting around for the £21.60 fee, I'm thinking to myself 'and I'm paying for fucking his as well'.
It's not long before I'm seen by the dentist and he whizzes the electric drill around the plague in the awkward parts of my mouth and asks me to spit out all the crud and liquid that's now accumulated in there. 'Good, I always thought I had too much blood in my gums' I thought to myself, as he awkwardly informs me I might benefit from braces - privately you mind, at a cost of between £1500-£2000.
As I was admiring the strange feeling of my freshly scrapped teeth on the way, I had a little discussion with my partner. "How long was I in there?" I asked, "About 10 minutes" she said. This wasn't uncommon, I noticed in the past that patients were in and out in about 10-15 minutes.
£21.60 every 10 minutes for a 7 hour day is around £900 a fucking day! And it's not like there is only one dentist in my local practice.
As I was admiring the strange feeling of my freshly scrapped teeth on the way, I had a little discussion with my partner. "How long was I in there?" I asked, "About 10 minutes" she said. This wasn't uncommon, I noticed in the past that patients were in and out in about 10-15 minutes.
£21.60 every 10 minutes for a 7 hour day is around £900 a fucking day! And it's not like there is only one dentist in my local practice.
Don't get me wrong, I believe any working man earns his wage no matter the profession, but it's blatantly obvious that something is wrong when an industry that is tax payer subsidised, is also raking in top-up cash at a rate of knots at the same time.
But according to the BDA (British Medical Association) the government is the one turning a profit from those top-up payments. So rather than help keeping costs down, they are actually the ones causing them to rise.
Of course I'm not suggesting private dentistry is the way to go, after all their charges are astronomical considering that free market competition is supposed to bring prices down - makes you wonder what has a hand in inflating the prices private dentists charge.
But according to the BDA (British Medical Association) the government is the one turning a profit from those top-up payments. So rather than help keeping costs down, they are actually the ones causing them to rise.
Of course I'm not suggesting private dentistry is the way to go, after all their charges are astronomical considering that free market competition is supposed to bring prices down - makes you wonder what has a hand in inflating the prices private dentists charge.
No what I would suggest is a solely NHS medical profession, by that I mean the side of the medical profession that operates under the NHS banner and operates in competition with the private sector. No more of these private practices leeching off easy government subsidies. This would remove the excuse of having to pay on top of the taxation that already funds the NHS services, no more double dipping government fuck you very much.
This would intern lower prices and raise quality in the private sector, as competing with a completely free at the point of use service would mean they would have to up their game to attract clients.
This would intern lower prices and raise quality in the private sector, as competing with a completely free at the point of use service would mean they would have to up their game to attract clients.
At the minute the NHS side of dentistry is a complete joke that could be vastly improved by increasing premise and service quality, all while reducing the cost. As too could the private sector dentists do with a shake up, as their industry proves the free market truly lacks competition.
By Roley
15/11/2018
15/11/2018
