Thursday 15 March 2018

The Government have a duty of care




Subject: The Government have a duty of care.


"The Government have a duty of care". How often do we hear this mantra and how often do individuals take advantage of it.
Do people who are grossly overweight through their own lifestyle decisions bear any responsibility and presumably a proportional cost of treatment under the National Health motto, "free at the point of need", or should they get the same treatment as someone who fits the spectra of being 'normal'.
It's the same with alcohol should a person who drinks like a fish (a misnomer since I don't think fish drink) and has to go into hospital for an operation on an organ wasted by alcohol.
Smoking another no no when it comes to health but there seems no prohibition on a heavy smoker receiving lung surgery.
Free at the point of need was a slogan to rid ourselves as a nation where, before the war healthcare was rationed, not by self indulgence but by the class you were born into.
With the NHS nearly grinding to a halt because of the pressures of massive immigration, (not withstanding that many of the people who staff the NHS are from abroad) and the longevity of people living well beyond the age when they were expected to die, plus the increase in the cost of drugs which are horrendously expensive as they become more and more tailored to specific diseases, undiscovered when the NHS was first promulgated.
The word "free" has an unsettling effect since it encourages use whilst hiding the fact that nothing is free. Its part of the human condition to properly evaluate our need when presented with a bill. No bill, no evaluation.
Of course the genuinely poor and needy should be covered but with the caveat that if their lifestyle is contributing to their need for treatment then it's only fair to ask them to contribute by at least modifying their lifestyle. The better off you are, a small premium should be charged to cover some of the cost whilst the wealthy usually have private medical aid which largely covers them.
The question of paying for medical treatment is not an ogreish suggestion, it's not a case of hitting people when they are at their most vulnerable, it's a question of balancing the books.
The image of self responsibility has to re-emerge in our society which has got used to blaming everything on 'someone else' and rarely holding up their hands to say "fair cop gov"

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