Is The Nhs Responsible For Every Aspect Of Your Health?

Is The Nhs Responsible For Every Aspect Of Your Health?

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The NHS was formed in 1948 as part of an ambitious plan to provide quality healthcare to all citizens and to be paid for by taxes. The NHS is available to all and covers a huge range of health care services. But increasingly many are wondering just how responsible the NHS is for the health of the people. Most would agree that the NHS should provide a reasonable level of quality and services, but in recent years some are questioning to what extent the NHS is actually responsible for so-called 'lifestyle diseases' such as obesity.

There are a range of moral, economical and political arguments surrounding the extent to which the NHS should be responsible for the nation's health, and many questions as to how much the NHS should do to fulfil its duty of care to a patient before it could be regarded as being negligent.

One example of controversy regarding the NHS's responsibility is that of proposals to incentivise people to lead healthier lifestyles. One Primary Care Trust in Kent offered a 'pounds for pounds' scheme where overweight people have been given money to lose weight. From an economic perspective this scheme could be beneficial if it saved the NHS money, but some could take the view that on principle the NHS should not be paying people to take steps to lead a healthier lifestyle. Most would agree that encouragement would be a cheaper and more appropriate option but while incentive schemes are here people will continue to question just how much should the NHS do for people's health.

Where does NHS responsibility end and taking your own start?

The burden on the taxpayer through those who, despite professional advice and publicity campaigns, deliberately lead unhealthy lifestyles is immense. But the question for policy makers is where does the NHS responsibility end and patient responsibility start? Who decides whether a person is unwell through no reasonable fault of their own or whether the illness is 'self-inflicted', and based on what criteria?

Deciding this can be packed with moral dilemmas and contradictory arguments. There could also be legal implications if a patient is refused treatment on the basis that they had harmed themselves by allegedly not leading a healthier lifestyle when they had the option to take advantage of services designed to help them lose weight or change their diet.
'Compensation culture' to blame

With increasing payouts by the NHS on claims of medical negligence, many are blaming a rising culture of compensation and litigation for attitudes towards NHS responsibility to citizens' health. Whereas previously many were prepared to accept a line between the responsibility of the State and that of the individual, the spate of actions by some medical negligence legal firms and so-called 'ambulance chasers' now mean there is a belief by somepeople that they can sue for almost anything that disadvantages them in some way.

With reforms to the NHS on their way, it is hoped that some of these issues will be resolved and a more acceptable balance between blame and responsibility will be found.

About the Author:
We deal in a range of claims, including medical negligence and compensation.



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