Has the pandemic made you think about your NHS impact?

[reducingfootprint]

Aside from having children, i rarely have doctors appointments. I am the lower end of healthy weight, good blood pressure etc and think overall i must have a low impact on the NHS. I dont smoke, dont drink often but rarely exercise and probably have too much sugar
With covid devastating the NHS has it made you want to change your ways, like stop smoking and lose weight, to decrease your impact on the NHS?
So AIBU to think you should really complain about the stress if the NHS if you have an unhealthy lifestyle?

I read this more as a question of whether you are doing something to improve your chances of staying healthy if you can do something but you've been complacent.
I think that's an entirely fair point if I'm not incorrect.

So AIBU to think you should really complain about the stress if the NHS if you have an unhealthy lifestyle?

ay?

A close family member is a GP, they say people are often outraged when they are diagnosed with a chronic or terminal illness, they say, “but I’m fit, healthy, don’t smoke...” sorry obeying the rules makes no difference. I’m thin, fit, eat well etc. That didn’t stop me from getting rheumatoid arthritis, I wanted to be treated privately after diagnosis but it’s not possible on my insurance. The consultant I was seeing privately was more worried about the insurance company than he was about me the patient. I have not seen a specialist for over a year due to Covid and my local GP has to monitor my medication etc. Oh and I’m a high rate tax payer.

Pretty sure OP is a politician or an advisor working on next budget and is trying to figure out how to spin some nhs budget cuts
"Oh, well. If you weren't bunch of selfich pricks, NHS❤️ would be grand. It's all your fault it's not working properly. Shame on you, public. Shame on you"

I think some people have lost the ability to distinguish between "should" and "shouldn't" on their tiny phone screens...

@Fairyliz

Wow think you are getting a hard time op. Yes some illnesses are totally unrelated to lifestyle and you can’t help if you are ill. However smoking, drinking, being overweight, not doing exercise etc massively increases you risk of other conditions and therefore your use of NHS resources. So yes we should all be doing what we can to improve our health.

I've used the NHS once in over ten years. As a result of doing exercise.

I'm overweight and am working on this because it's something I want to do for myself. But I'm more likely to have an injury through exercise than through watching TV...

I have an enormous impact on the NHS as I am on second generation TKIs

But I didn’t fit any of the known risk factors for CML

So I don’t see what I could/should have done differently, but it’s been illuminating to see that some people think those who have such a large impact probably brought it on themselves and are an unfair burden

No. I should bother the NHS a little more, if anything.

I think it would be a little strange to decide to change habits to save the NHS, rather than to try to get healthier for the sake of ones own health.

That's quite a smug sentiment. I don't see doctors much at all. I have a healthy lifestyle. On my DH's side some of his relatives have Huntington's disease. They can't exactly choose how much or how little they need healthcare. It's brilliant that so many of us are healthy but I don't think that gives us bragging rights. Any of us could have a disabled child or become disabled ourselves. I don't think you meant it but I am getting a real ableist vibe from your post.

@merryhouse

I think some people have lost the ability to distinguish between "should" and "shouldn't" on their tiny phone screens...

I spotted that too lol

I have suffered from hypopituitaryism all my life, got osteoarthrtis in hips in 30s, first hip replacement at 42, now have in spine, knees and most recently in shoulders. As a result of my third hip replacement I can no longer put any weight on one leg so have to use a walking frame. My right hip has now shifted out of its socket and the consultant is contemplating removing the prosthesis as my bones are as thin as egg shells and not replacing it. In the meantime the end of the prosthesis has shifted and is digging on the inside of my thigh bone and it's a 9 out of 10 pain if I twist my leg by mistake. I now can't eat with a fork in my left hand because my shoulder can't bend enough. I'm left handed but I'm having to do things right handed until that also seizes up. I have oedema in my legs which necessitates a trip to the nurse on my mobility scooter every week when she applies several layers of bandages. When I had a fall they couldn't pin my bones because too thin so was in hospital on traction for eight weeks.

Would love to hear from the OP about how I can reduce my NHS 'impact'. I guess killing myself would work.

The biggest strain on the NHS by miles is people living longer than they used to. Someone in their 80s is far more likely to go to the doctor than someone in their 40s, whatever their BMI is. But that's a tricky one to change.

I have rarely been to the drs until I turned 50 and since then it's been one thing after another. I am trying to lose weight as I am worried about covid risk. My Dh has chronic poorly controlled asthma and whilst he rarely has hospital stays he does have a lot of respiratory appointments and very expensive injection treatment to reduce his reliance on steroids.

I agree with the PP who said that the lifestyle choices you have made are almost always made in the interest of benefit to the person making the choice, with the side effect of possibly reducing your use of the NHS,not the other way round.
But none of it will help you if you get breast cancer or have a car accident will it?

I do and always have done . I hardly ever go to the gp amd prefer to self administer or go to the chemist ANd ask for advice or buy something rather than get a prescription. I don't eat meat or drink and I look after myself and try not to be a drain on the nhs for sure .. I think a lot of people would be healthier with a few stone off!

I'm currently much more of a burden on the NHS than I would have been if my doctor hadn't refused to see me face to face a few months ago. To date one A&E attendance, currently awaiting third set of blood tests, awaiting chest xray, one hospital referral... All the GP did was prescribe useless antibiotics, causing everything to deteriorate!

@Fairyliz

Wow think you are getting a hard time op. Yes some illnesses are totally unrelated to lifestyle and you can’t help if you are ill. However smoking, drinking, being overweight, not doing exercise etc massively increases you risk of other conditions and therefore your use of NHS resources. So yes we should all be doing what we can to improve our health.

Yes, agree with this.

If only being slim, eating well and not smoking etc prevented a person getting expensively ill.

No, not at all. People were dying at home instead of "bothering" the NHS at the start of the pandemic. It is there to serve us, not the other way around.
I am currently obese and trying to change that to make myself feel better. How much I might cost the NHS if I don't is not coming into it. I have cost a lot over the years though for mental health.

Others before me have made very good points, so I won’t repeat them, but to answer your question, the one thing it has made me think about is having a flu jab. I would not have bothered previously as I don’t see it as a particular risk to me, but seeing the statistics comparing covid deaths to flu deaths has made me think about being vaccinated to avoid contributing to community transmission. I hadn’t realised that so many people died of flu.

Nope, and I think it's a very strange way of looking at things. If I try to live a healthy lifestyle it's because it's better for me, not to save the NHS. Just like I maintain my house because I like to live in a nice house, not to save the tradesmen a job.

No

I’m early 20s and have literally zero health issues. The only medication I take is contraception. When the time comes, I’m certainly going to get my taxes worth out of the NHS and not settle for less.

No.