What costs the NHS most....

According to the Tobacco Manufacturers Association, as of April 2009, 76% of the price of a packet of 20 cigarettes, went to the taxman.

With an approximate collected revenue of over 10 billion, and a cost to the NHS of 5 billion (ish).. Smokers are still technically paying for their own care..
 
According to the Tobacco Manufacturers Association, as of April 2009, 76% of the price of a packet of 20 cigarettes, went to the taxman.

With an approximate collected revenue of over 10 billion, and a cost to the NHS of 5 billion (ish).. Smokers are still technically paying for their own care..

Which is assuming that at least 5 billion of the tax actually goes to the NHS.
 
Which is assuming that at least 5 billion of the tax actually goes to the NHS.

Irellevant and impossible to say whether it does or not. The fact is that smokers contribute 5 billion more than non smokers.

Also smokers are more likely to die younger so they end up costing less in that way too. Non smokers can die of cancer as well you know, it doesn't cost less when they go for treatment or die.
 
How about GP's? They cost loads to employ and serve the purpose of just delaying the patients treatment.

GPs do cost a lot, I should know I work with them on a daily basis. I also know they do a very important and increasingly undervalued job freeing up specialist care by treating those that don't need that care locally where possible. Mistakes are made, people aren't referred, but would you rather see people going directly to specialists when half of people don't know what each of them does?

Back on topic - I'd say drugs cost the most, methodone is given out in vast quantities every day in the UK and that's before we get onto clinics and help for addicts, violence caused by it (costs money to patch people up) and the impact it has on family life which can lead relatives to hit the bottle and develop mental illnesses. That's also before we look at the long term mental impact of those addicts who have kicked the habit..
 
Taxes might balance out the monetary drain on the NHS that smokers provide but the time, expertise and space that ill smokers take up is what annoys me. Stupid, pointless habit, should be banned along with alcohol, stop the ridiculous drinking culture in this country.
 
Taxes might balance out the monetary drain on the NHS that smokers provide but the time, expertise and space that ill smokers take up is what annoys me. Stupid, pointless habit, should be banned along with alcohol, stop the ridiculous drinking culture in this country.

I see. So everything that could potentially hurt someone should be banned? Well smoking and drinking obviously. Then I guess fast food would have to go, cause you know, obesity and all that. I suppose then next on the list would have to be sports off all kinds, extreme right down to football. I mean you choose to play them so when you break a leg it's your own fault correct? Therefore it should be banned?

I suppose cars would have to be right up there as well. I mean you don't technically need to drive do you? We survived 100years ago with out them we could again. And besides, you choose to drive therefore it's your own fault if you crash and get ill.

Any kind of manual labour, oh and computer work as well, repetitive strain injury and all that. All the forces boys.

Hell if we just lock everyone in a padded cell we wouldn't need an NHS at all. What a great idea, I'd defiantly prefer you to run the country over George Orwell...
 
Alcohol, as the injuries it cause are not accelerated from normal. Ie most smoking related diseases would be suffered anyway, just at a later stage in life.
Illegal drug abuse is way less costly than the legal drug abuse.
 
Taxes might balance out the monetary drain on the NHS that smokers provide but the time, expertise and space that ill smokers take up is what annoys me. Stupid, pointless habit, should be banned along with alcohol, stop the ridiculous drinking culture in this country.

Damn if Hitler had won the war, maybe your dream would have come true.
 
My opinion. Alcohol, then drugs, then smoking.

Although there are far more smokers, other drugs have stronger effects on the body, faster, and the drugs cost more. Then factor in all the post rehabilitation facilities and staff associted with illegal drugs - this is massive. Almost every hospital has a rehabilitation center.

Also remember that they seem to pin every problem a person has on smoking even if unrelated, so any figures are often skewed.
 
isnt the one that kills the most people technically the cheapest in the long run as it saves on health care and pensions for the old?
 
Quite interesting replies. Seems to be that Alcohol is the favourite but I still feel that smoking is the number one.

Do you mean whether you smoke or not?

Yes I do, people with a propensity to heart problems have the accelerated by smoking, but smoking also generally goes with an unhealthy lifestyle, poor diet, excessive alcohol consumption. Ofc this is not always true, but it is a a general rule of thumb.

Certainly, some respiratory illnesses may not happen, but someone who is vulnerable to cancer, may not get lung cancer, they may die of stomach and bowel cancer due to diet instead.

Smoking is for the most part, a catalyst to illness rather than a direct cause.

I would say unhealthy diet is likely to be the greatest cost to the NHS as this I believe has a far greater impact on heart disease/cancer etc, and I am convinced a lot of smoking figures are skewed by the number of smokers that have an unhealthy diet.
 
So what do you reckon; just scrap all primary care and have all those patients just decide what is wrong with themselves and go to the right specialist directly?

Being able to go to a specialist directly should definitely be an option, if your suffering from depression or anxiety it's obvious you need to go see a psychiatrist for example.

I don't propose scrapping primary care, just removing gatekeepers who serve to reduce the number of people seeing a specialist who has a clue what the problem is. GP's while many incompetent can be useful for those with general health complaints, but for many they simply serve as an obstacle between a patient and their treatment.
 
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