Tuesday 12 April 2011

Does the NHS make us lazy about our own health?

If everything is free at the point of delivery, where is the incentive to prevent illness?

We don't have to make the time to keep ourselves well, because if we get sick, we'll have it all taken care of and no bill at the end of it!

Our NHS is indeed the envy of the world and I certainly know that when my son was born prematurely, if the NHS care he received at the time, had to be paid for, I would probabaly have to have mortgaged the house!

But can we afford it in the way that we have it now?

If everytime we vistit the Dr, we had to pay a small contribution, I wonder how many people would think twice or start to look into preventative procedures first, saving those GP visits for the things that don't just get better.

My experince is that there are many people who see their Dr more than they do their families and have nothing other than anxiety about their health or need a listening ear. Now of course there are people who do need their GP's regular help, but how do we get people to be engaged enough in their health that they want to do things that prevent disease, and by this I don't mean a vaccination or a regular pill prescription!


Let me tie this in to the healthy breast programme we saw launched at the conference. What woman wouldn't want healthy breasts? What woman wants to be given the news she has breast cancer? The answers to those questions should be all and then none!.

What woman will take the time to follow a programme that will help her to have healthy breasts? A woman who cares about herself and the effects on those around her if she is ill, hopefully!  That should be us all.

Therapies of all descriptions need time invested in them, and we seem reluctant to make time to stay healthy, yet when we are ill, time is sometimes not what we have!, and suddenly we have to find it...the body makes us!
Well it's time to start investing in our health!  taking responsibility for our own well being and not leaving everything until the problem has occured.  You don't wait for the tyres on your car to be worn down. That could cost you or others 'life', so why do we play fast and lose with our bodies?

Prevention is always better than cure, it just takes that bit more effort and a cure may not always be totally possible.

There are many therpies that can help and some are better at certain conditions than others. CKT could help you find the right therapy for your problem.

But you might say, why do we have to spend money on therapies when the NHS is free?  May be that is because therapies are good in prevention work and the NHS,despite attempts at engaging people in preventative campaigns, is still the parent of us all.

If your hygeniest wants to see you regularly, and it's costing on average £45 a time for 30mins, I guess you start brushing more often, flossing and treating the gums!

So a free NHS! has it made us too lazy to take our own action on our health

1 comment:

  1. A free NHS has certainly given us a lovely cushion to fall back on if we become ill - even when our illness needs no more than rest and the appropriate food/drink to give our bodies the strength to recover on its own merits.

    We have so much knowledge about how to live a healthy life now, yet many of us live as we choose with little regard to how that may affect our health.

    So, the question may be, what is needed to engage people into taking responsibility for their own health, or even an interest in keeping themselves health?

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