Recently the headlines have been alight with news of new cancer drugs being rejected by the NHS regulatory body NICE. In two weeks, two new cancer treatments have been rejected as they are “too expensive”. This has caused uproar, with charities and scientists condemning the decision by the organisation. Prostate Cancer UK said the drug provides victims with extra time with their loved ones. Surely you cannot put a price on that. Surely the technological advances we make should be freely available on the NHS no matter what the cost, we shouldn’t have to worry about this in Britain right. Wrong. For several years now the NHS has been under significant strain due to relying on medical advances that are supposed to make it able to extend peoples lives. But the problem is not that these advances haven’t worked, it’s that they have, astoundingly well. This amongst other unique situations, is piling pressure on the NHS.
What we are seeing with these kind of decision is the NHS and it’s associated bodies trying to deal with a build up of factors that are making our health services physically and financially unsustainable. First of all, we are facing a growing population Britain. The UK population increased by 400,000 last year alone. That is the equivalent of adding a city the size of Bristol and it’s a trend set to increase. Recent figures show that births have now overtaken deaths and accounted for 212,000 new people last year. This is a direct result of the advances in medical technology that stops people from dying in old age. That does not men that those people should be denied those life saving treatments but it does put a significant strain on the healthcare budget, leading to the decisions over the past few weeks.
The NHS is facing a double edged sword on population growth. We have in the last 5-10 years seen immigration and illegal immigration figures soar past what even the Labour government, with their liberal border policy, expected to see. Net immigration last year was 183,400 and that figure does not count those claiming asylum, who also use the NHS. The population increase is one thing, but because a lot those migrants have not grown up in a country which provides our kind of healthcare, they need to know how to use the system properly. At present there are many migrants who will check themselves into an emergency room for something that they could go to their GP for. There is a lack of education on how to use the NHS. This is not just a problem with immigrants, there are many people born in Britain who use the A&E for non emergencies too. This problem could be solved in a number of ways. Advertisement campaigns encouraging people to use their GPs, efficient service on the NHS direct line and turning away at the counter of those who enter A&E with a non emergency. Tough times call for tough measures and many A&E departments are under strain from an influx of non emergency patient.
It is not only population growth which is a problem in the UK. Self inflicted injury and illness accounts for a large percentage of NHS funding also. It is hard to define a self inflicted injury or illness. Common barometers on which to judge this would be illegal drug use and alcohol abuse. 27 percent of the UK population drank more than the weekly recommendation for units of alcohol in 2012. This is a cultural issue and something that, if allowed to continue, will likely cripple the NHS further in years to come. Statistics for smokers in recent years have shown signs of improvement, but smoking related illness is still one the largest costs to the health service annually.Can we really justify giving treatments to smokers, who have inflicted their own illness through an irresponsible lifestyle, and then deny life saving treatments to those who haven’t.
Those who smoke, drink, take drugs and are obese cost the NHS the money that could be spent on revolutionary new treatments such as abiritone (prostate cancer treatment) which was denied by NICE, money that could be spent reducing waiting time for patients waiting for life saving operations, who never make it to the operating table.
If those who inflict harm on themselves (smokers, drinkers, drug users) and others (namely, the alcohol and tobacco companies) were to pay for the healthcare they cause, or at least a proportion of it, would that not be a fairer system? Would denying healthcare to health tourists from abroad be ethical? Can we turn someone away from A&E because they don’t have a basic understanding of their own health?
Unfortunately, as the NHS progresses further into the 21st century, these are the types of question that will arise time and time again. It’s time for our political leaders, indeed our generation, to face some difficult decisions in the coming years. Can we face the moral challenges ahead, to preserve the NHS for future generations?
Thomas Kavanagh