Regis Philbin
Oct 25th, 2006, 07:34 PM
The British health system is one of the systems touted by liberals as being so great, a system they'd like to copy here in the U.S. If the British system is so great, why are hospitals described as "strapped for cash" and trusts are "millions of pounds in debt"?
If they can't afford to do surgeries on all their smokers...maybe things aren't so wonderful in the socialized medical wonderland...Hmmm? :scratch:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=411964&in_page_id=1770&ico=Homepage&icl=TabModule&icc=NEWS&ct=5
Give up or we won't operate, smokers told
By FIONA MACRAE
Last updated at 13:48pm on 23rd October 2006
Smokers will be denied life-changing operations unless they agree to kick the habit, it was revealed today.
Cash-strapped hospitals say patients will not be given treatments such as hip and knee replacements until they try to give up. Those who fail could be denied treatment all together.
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Managers in Norfolk and Newcastle, where trusts are millions of pounds in debt, say smokers are at a greater risk of complications and the move will help save them money on further care.
But critics accused them of putting its finances before the health of its patients - and warned it could lead to surgeons being "brow-beaten" into breaking the Hippocratic Oath.
The move will hit patients of Norfolk Primary Care Trust which is £50million in the red and provides healthcare to the residents of Norwich and surrounding towns and villages. Newcastle-Under-Lyme PCT in north Staffordshire, which is £1.4million in debt, has taken a similar decision.
Last year, health bosses in east Suffolk barred obese patients from the operating theatre until they tried to lose weight.
While urgent operations are not covered by the Norfolk policy, the treatments include hip and knee replacements as well as hernia operations.
If they can't afford to do surgeries on all their smokers...maybe things aren't so wonderful in the socialized medical wonderland...Hmmm? :scratch:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=411964&in_page_id=1770&ico=Homepage&icl=TabModule&icc=NEWS&ct=5
Give up or we won't operate, smokers told
By FIONA MACRAE
Last updated at 13:48pm on 23rd October 2006
Smokers will be denied life-changing operations unless they agree to kick the habit, it was revealed today.
Cash-strapped hospitals say patients will not be given treatments such as hip and knee replacements until they try to give up. Those who fail could be denied treatment all together.
------------------
Managers in Norfolk and Newcastle, where trusts are millions of pounds in debt, say smokers are at a greater risk of complications and the move will help save them money on further care.
But critics accused them of putting its finances before the health of its patients - and warned it could lead to surgeons being "brow-beaten" into breaking the Hippocratic Oath.
The move will hit patients of Norfolk Primary Care Trust which is £50million in the red and provides healthcare to the residents of Norwich and surrounding towns and villages. Newcastle-Under-Lyme PCT in north Staffordshire, which is £1.4million in debt, has taken a similar decision.
Last year, health bosses in east Suffolk barred obese patients from the operating theatre until they tried to lose weight.
While urgent operations are not covered by the Norfolk policy, the treatments include hip and knee replacements as well as hernia operations.