Buerk is a Burk

[StuartO]

Michael Buerk, the 73 year old, non-obese broadcaster, has expressed the view that the large numbers of obese people in our society should be regarded as lifestyle chosers rather than sufferers of an illness and therefore denied treatment by our struggling NHS, to allow it to prioritise care for more deserving, slimmer people like him.

 

Applying the same logic to other categories of people because they make above-average demands on the NHS, perhaps 50% of the population would be excluded from NHS care to favour the rest. Likewise all those people who have chosen to stop working (and therefore no longer pay National Insurance) might be excluded - and of course all those who stop working early because they develop an incapacity, not to mention those who have terminal illnesses, who should not get further treatment on the grounds that they are on their way out anyway.

 

Don't think you've thought this through very well Malcolm!

[Guest pelmetman]

Are anorexic's not also a drain on the NHS? :-S ...........

[colin]

There are lots of 'life style choices' which could result in someone becoming a drain on NHS resources, once we start singling out certain ones the whole ethos behind the NHS collapses. I'm up from a new hip, my old boss says it's because of my racing, he may be correct, but at least I didn't mess myself up by taking (more than one tub of) sports supplements and end up with diabetes like Steve Redgrave, where do you draw the line?

[Barryd999]

You don't draw the line.

 

Might all be irrelevant anyway in the not too distant future if the Tories sell our NHS to Trump.