28.1% of adults in the UK are obese; 16.9% smoke.
Money doesn’t grow on trees. ?
“The NHS has recently released treatment guidelines stating that patients who are obese or who smoke will be banned from receiving “non-urgent” surgeries unless they first lose weight or quit smoking.”
That’s right, no knee replacement surgery until after you hit that treadmill.
“As a government-run healthcare system, the NHS faces a squeeze on resources from all fronts. First, the demand for healthcare in the U.K. is increasing due to an aging population and an increase in long-term medical conditions. Next, funding for large, state-run social programs like healthcare continue to shrink. Finally, the rate of primary-care physicians entering the system has not kept pace with demand, thus reducing patients’ access to first-line medical providers.”
UK’s National Health Service Moves to Cut Healthcare for Smokers and the Obese
A core tenant of the pledge taken by all physicians is their promise first and foremost to do no harm. A physician’s vow to care for patients in a manner which does not cause physical, mental, or emotional harm has guided treatment decisions since the days of Hippocrates.
https://mises.org/wire/uks-national-health-service-moves-cut-healthcare-smokers-and-obese