To think we shouldn't be funding this on the NHS?

All of my local hospitals have smoking areas, St Helens, Whiston, Royal Liverpool, Aintree. I've had to pick someone up from Manchester and there's smoking areas.

Ok then so obesity is self inflicted so ban all treatment of illnesses caused by being fat? Drinking alcohol causes illness so ban treatment for liver disease. People in gangs who get stabbed, refuse them also? Sports injuries are the fault/responsibility of the participant so I guess they can't be treated either. What about cancers linked to lifestyle?

Respiratory disease is caused by smoking. What if the person gave up smoking twenty years ago? Or last week? What if they vape? Surely they'll just claim they don't smoke if they think they'll be refused treatment.

The NHS is there for sick people. It's not there to discriminate regarding how someone got sick in the first place.

These purposefully obtuse replies are an attempt to show you, when you say self inflicted, where does it stop?

Who makes that decision, who makes the guidelines for the person making the decision, How much does that decision making cost? shouldn't they be put that cost toward health care rather than trying to prevent health care?

Everything can be deemed "self inflicted" when you start to apply labels, especially if that means something isn't paid out (think about all these insurance companies who try everything to not pay out)

I think this is a completely heartless post. And I see you think fat people should be left to die in pain too.

Disgusting.

It's a special hospital located under a bridge.

Absolutely. Let’s leave them to die - it’s their own fault.

while we’re at it, let’s do away with maternity care. It’s their own fault they’re pregnant - everyone knows sex can cause pregnancy.

and orthopaedics- loads of money to be saved there. Anyone who breaks a bone playing sport for example, completely their own fault.

i could go on….

I think OP means that there is really no upside to smoking, there’s no way the benefits outweighs the massive risk, with smoking you’re guaranteed to have some kind of negative effect whether small like a furry gross tongue/gross teeth, or big like cancer/death.

People saying what about exercise or driving etc is such a ridiculous comparison it’s laughable.

Exactly . I stopped nursing about 10 yrs ago and even back then the hospital grounds were non smoking and no nurse or HCA would have been wheeling people out to light up . That kind of behaviour stopped many years ago .

What is your source for your bladder cancer statistic?

Two highly responsible 2024 statistics for the link between smoking and bladder cancer are

Cancer Research UK says that ‘about half’ of bladder cancers are caused by smoking,

and

the highly respected Cleveland Clinic (USA) says that up to 65% of bladder cancers are caused by smoking.

Both serious statistics, but nothing like 98%

You seem to be forgetting healthcare systems are built on the principle of universal care, which means treating people no matter how they got sick.

If we start drawing lines about who "deserves" treatment, where would it end? Would we refuse care to those with obesity, sports injuries, or conditions linked to diet or alcohol consumption? Almost everyone has lifestyle habits that can negatively affect health in some way.

Secondly, smoking is an addiction, not just a choice. Many smokers begin as teenagers and nicotine is notoriously hard to quit. Lots of smokers are also from disadvantaged backgrounds where there’s less access to education and support to quit. Penalising them further is harsh and counterproductive.

Many "preventable" situations are still treated as a priority for good reason. Pregnancy is technically preventable requires medical support to ensure both physical and mental health for the mother and baby.

Abortion another technically preventable scenario are vital for the physical and mental health of pregnant women in certain circumstances. Should we deny care in these cases too?

Plus education is already prioritised in healthcare. Smoking rates have declined over the years due to public health campaigns, higher taxes on cigarettes, and smoking cessation programs.

However, for those already affected, the damage can’t always be reversed, and treatment is the only option.

Everyone deserves compassion when they’re unwell, regardless of how they got there

There are still smoking areas.
@AgileJadeDog you'd be wrong about the gastro and coronary wards. I think smoking is dying out. Your tax money pays for you to live in a safe country, were we don't have people dying on our streets. We could never cut off healthcare while funding prisons and lots of other things. I never thought I'd be obese. During a serious illness my consultants told me to not worry about my weight going up. Unfortunately post viral fatigue and the menopause has made all the weight impossible to lose. It's a lack of activity and bad diet that causes issues, not just body size.

Shall we stop treating car accident victims because some people choose not to drive because of the risk to life?

Alcohol consumption- even small amounts - is now known to be associated with breast cancer. So should we deny treatment there?

Come on @AgileJadeDog where in the UK is this hospital that allows smoking in its grounds?

So where are we going to draw the line?

Overweight and have related illness? Self-inflicted.

Break your leg skiing? Self-inflicted.

Cross the road without looking and get run over? Self-inflicted.

I mean, your respiratory illness, where did you pick that up? Been somewhere crowded? Allergy? I hope they did a full investigation before treating you.

Tell you what my dad probably paid for a few people’s NHS treatment through his years of smoking. He smoked for 65 years. Then went to the doctors with a cough aged 78. He was dead 3 weeks later. So I’m sure the 65 years of tobacco tax more than paid for a scan or two, a couple of appointments, a week in hospital and some pain meds at the end.
Was it his own fault he got lung cancer? Most likely. I’m not denying that. But he was a good man and worked from 14 until 69. He grew up without a pot to piss in. Pictures of him as a child he looks like a street urchin quite frankly. Not even wearing shoes in some photos. He had 2 siblings die in childhood from illness. That was life growing up in poverty. If he had been born now and with more money I imagine he would have made different choices.

Would be very difficult to assess which patients are more "worthy" of priority treatment

But I agree the general population should take personal responsibility for their own health. Education is part of this. We should also promote sport and leisure pportunities for all eg social prescribing. And healthy meals in eg achools and hospitals. And better understanding of trauma and the reasons why people self medicate with drugs and alcohol. No one chooses to become alcoholic or an addict

You want people to be left to die instead?

@AgileJadeDog 'I paid £80k in tax last year'

Nice stealth boast there.

So you can obviously afford private healthcare so why should the NHS fund your treatment? I mean, if we're being ridiculous (as you are) then your wealth is self-inflicted. It must be nice being so perfect living in your Ivory tower

YABU because you don’t understand the concept of the NHS. Of course we have to fund it… it’s a public health service for us, the public, we have all paid for it. Including members of the public who smoke, drink, get fat, etc.

I'm really sorry, but I can't imagine this level of critical thinking skills returns an £80k tax pay packet. Unless you're a male footballer I guess or similar.

Obviously you have to treat everyone, that's the point.

But when you're throwing more than 3 times the total water companies dividends since privatisation a year at the NHS, isn't it time we had a long look at ourselves?

How many times do you go to hospital and see someone wheeling their drip outside for a cigarette? Or massively morbidly obese people shovelling more crap in?

Unless you're willing to stump up even more tax (forget all this fair share for others crap, it's not how reality works in a global economy, wealth is mobile) then we need to stop taking the piss.

Trouble is that so many people buy duty free cigarettes, so they're not paying duty/tax to the UK government. That's whether they buy them abroad and bring them back after travelling, or more commonly, buying them from dodgy shops and pubs from under the counter (the good old black economy!).

Right, so on that basis let’s not treat smokers but equally the money cigarettes generate shouldn’t go into the NHS either. Smokers can have that money go directly into their own healthcare instead.

It would be grossly unfair for them to be paying significantly more into the system than you (cigarettes are very, heavily taxed), you get treatment but they cannot.