COMMUNITY CARE HEALTH AND WELLBEING
Paying the price
A Conservative MP recently proposed introducing cost implications for treating people who live an unhealthy lifestyle. CARRIE SERVICE looks at the impact of growing pressures on the NHS and if putting a premium on healthcare is really the answer
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o-called ‘lifestyle-related’ illnesses are something that is constantly flagged in the media as a drain on public resources. No one can argue that they don’t cost the NHS billions of pounds each year – type 2 diabetes, obesity, smoking-related illnesses, drug addiction, alcohol dependency – they are all
largely caused by the way we choose to live our lives and treat our bodies. And the cost to manage these lifestyle-related conditions is absorbed, in the most part, by the NHS. The issue is something that stirs up a considerable amount of debate, with some people arguing that those who ‘choose’ not to take care of themselves should be expected to pay for any extra cost they may cause to the NHS. One of those people is Dr Phillip Lee, Conservative MP for Bracknell and a practicing locum GP. In November last year, he said at an Institute of Economic Affairs event: “If you want to
have doughnuts for breakfast, fine, but there is a cost implication down the line… We have got to be bold here; we have got to be decided that the National Health Service in its current form is not sustainable.” He also wrote in an article for the Huffington Post: ‘We have to act now before it is too late. Younger generations are in danger of not having the opportunity to enjoy the “free NHS” at the point of use that older generations have had the opportunity to take for granted for so long.’ He argues that healthcare costs, driven by an increase in demand, have reached a tipping-point. ‘Without doubt, an increasing number of people are getting prescription medication for conditions predominantly to do with lifestyle choices,’ he says. ‘Clearly, I am not saying that all do, but to ensure that the chronic and terminally ill patients of the future have the care that they need we need to make some tough decisions about future funding now.’
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