Farage : Charge drunks who keep using A&E

[The Enrichment Center]

Why would Farage want this? He's got to be the heaviest drinker and smoker in England.

[State Secret]

Why would Farage want this? He's got to be the heaviest drinker and smoker in England.

It creates a two tier system. Turning up drunk at A&E is ok if you can afford it but not if you are poor. He can afford it.

[Reddogkeno101]

I can't say I disagree, for once Nigel ThornberryFarage is right. Drunks cause big strains on hospitals and alcohol fueled violence is a big problem as a result of too much alcohol being consumed.

[Zakuvia]

I think the tenets of the NHS are still being served. It's not as if someone's going to come in and be denied service. They're just going to be charged for it proportional to their overusage. Healthcare's a lifestyle necessity, not a choice, which alcoholism is (sorry predestinationists).

I'm going to catch a lot of flak for that statement, but although being prone to be alcoholic is indeed a biochemical and genetic factor, the choice to drink is still dependent on the individual. Ergo, lifestyle.

These people are choosing to put a disproportionate strain on the system, and I see this move as one in the right direction. After all, if they have so much money to spend on liquor, they can certainly afford to pay for the consequences of drinking it. Same as smokers. Nobody forced a burning Marlboro in your mouth, so stop crying about when you have to pay the interest on your bad choices.

[The Enrichment Center]

Why would Farage want this? He's got to be the heaviest drinker and smoker in England.

It's about picking a scapegoat to turn attention to. He would portray himself as a man who easily controls his alcohol intake while drunks are scum we can all rightly target

Speaking of UKIP scapegoats..Whatever happened to the Bulgarians? Are they still evil?

Why would Farage want this? He's got to be the heaviest drinker and smoker in England.

It creates a two tier system. Turning up drunk at A&E is ok if you can afford it but not if you are poor. He can afford it.

Half of his party members won't be able to though. And to say the amount of stupid shit they say, they've got to be pretty heavy drinkers too.

[Elepis]

good luck getting any money out of them

[The Enrichment Center]

I think the tenets of the NHS are still being served. It's not as if someone's going to come in and be denied service. They're just going to be charged for it proportional to their overusage. Healthcare's a lifestyle necessity, not a choice, which alcoholism is (sorry predestinationists).

I'm going to catch a lot of flak for that statement, but although being prone to be alcoholic is indeed a biochemical and genetic factor, the choice to drink is still dependent on the individual. Ergo, lifestyle.

These people are choosing to put a disproportionate strain on the system, and I see this move as one in the right direction. After all, if they have so much money to spend on liquor, they can certainly afford to pay for the consequences of drinking it. Same as smokers. Nobody forced a burning Marlboro in your mouth, so stop crying about when you have to pay the interest on your bad choices.

Issue is, the reason we have the NHS is so that we all pay into it via taxes and can use it when we need to, people who are ill because of their drinking may have paid into the system all their life, and are now being asked to shell out more to an increasingly profit-based NHS.

[Ottoman Sultanate (Ancient)]

What? He wants to charge himself?

Finally a good news.

[Fionnuala_Saoirse]

How exactly will he charge them?

Plenty of people go through A+E using aliases or not giving a name at all.

[Pesda]

When people drink they're not trying to end up in hospital. There's an increased risk of it but I think it's fair to say they got there by accident.

[Reddogkeno101]

When people drink they're not trying to end up in hospital. There's an increased risk of it but I think it's fair to say they got there by accident.

But it's their responsibility to moderate and if they go drinking (which has a real risk of ending up in hospital one way or another, whether it be liver cancer or drunken injuries), it's their fault.

[The Enrichment Center]

When people drink they're not trying to end up in hospital. There's an increased risk of it but I think it's fair to say they got there by accident.

But it's their responsibility to moderate and if they go drinking (which has a real risk of ending up in hospital one way or another, whether it be liver cancer or drunken injuries), it's their fault.

So, if I sit on my roof to watch the sunset, fall off and break my arm, I knew the risks of doing it so ultimately it's my fault and I should pay for my treatment? If I'm driving too fast on a road and my tyres skid and I end up crashing I knew the risks of doing it so ultimately it's my fault and I should pay for my treatment? If I go and see my sick mother and catch an illness, I knew the risks of doing it so ultimately it's my fault and I should pay for my treatment? If I often partake in extreme sports and I injure myself I knew the risks of doing it so ultimately it's my fault and I should pay for my treatment?

People do dangerous things every day, sometimes for enjoyment, sometimes because they have to, sometimes because they should, and if they hurt themselves whilst doing them, they know they live in a country which will look after them. That's a huge part of the ethos of the NHS.

[Esternial]

You could just fine the ones that assault NHS employees. People like to drink, and punishing them for getting injured while doing so is not their fault; in this case it may be more appropriate to blame society.

[Zakuvia]

But it's their responsibility to moderate and if they go drinking (which has a real risk of ending up in hospital one way or another, whether it be liver cancer or drunken injuries), it's their fault.

So, if I sit on my roof to watch the sunset, fall off and break my arm, I knew the risks of doing it so ultimately it's my fault and I should pay for my treatment? If I'm driving too fast on a road and my tyres skid and I end up crashing I knew the risks of doing it so ultimately it's my fault and I should pay for my treatment? If I go and see my sick mother and catch an illness, I knew the risks of doing it so ultimately it's my fault and I should pay for my treatment? If I often partake in extreme sports and I injure myself I knew the risks of doing it so ultimately it's my fault and I should pay for my treatment?

People do dangerous things every day, sometimes for enjoyment, sometimes because they have to, sometimes because they should, and if they hurt themselves whilst doing them, they know they live in a country which will look after them. That's a huge part of the ethos of the NHS.

The difference being that you're not breaking your limbs or crashing your vehicle every weekend or whenever you don't get a raise, your lover cheats on you, the day ends in 'y', etc.

[L Ron Cupboard]

I guess Nigel has private healthcare.

[Free Tristania]

Looks like he just received his "spread more confusion" -orders from Moscow.

[Old Tyrannia]

I don't think this is a bad idea, slippery slope arguments aside.

[Greater-London]

UKIP are sneaky thinking they can slowly creep in with healthcare charges in the UK through this route. Start with the drunks and then creep your way along to the smokers, the overweight, those hurt through sporting injuries. Fuck them and fuck the Lib Dems for indicating they'd tag along with UKIP and the conservatives. The NHS is meant to be free at the point of care for all

Thoughts?

Well I don't think the slippery slope argument works at the best of times, especially not here. Charging drunk people is different from charging sports injuries, the obese, smokers ETC. Drunk people who are taken to A & E aren't just suffering from a self inflicted health problem, there also disruptive, hard to treat and more often than not they just need water and sleep! If they're brought to A & E chances are they've been in contact with the police as well for being disorderly. They don't just cost money they really slow down dealing with the genuinely ill and distress those waiting.

I do think that charging drunk people is a stupid idea but I don't think that this one charge leads to others. All our major parties are potentially offering minor charges to the NHS after the eleciton, remember the idea floated by Andy Burnham about charging people a £50 a year GP membership (or something along those lines).

[The Enrichment Center]

So, if I sit on my roof to watch the sunset, fall off and break my arm, I knew the risks of doing it so ultimately it's my fault and I should pay for my treatment? If I'm driving too fast on a road and my tyres skid and I end up crashing I knew the risks of doing it so ultimately it's my fault and I should pay for my treatment? If I go and see my sick mother and catch an illness, I knew the risks of doing it so ultimately it's my fault and I should pay for my treatment? If I often partake in extreme sports and I injure myself I knew the risks of doing it so ultimately it's my fault and I should pay for my treatment?

People do dangerous things every day, sometimes for enjoyment, sometimes because they have to, sometimes because they should, and if they hurt themselves whilst doing them, they know they live in a country which will look after them. That's a huge part of the ethos of the NHS.

The difference being that you're not breaking your limbs or crashing your vehicle every weekend or whenever you don't get a raise, your lover cheats on you, the day ends in 'y', etc.

Oh I see, sorry. I didn't realise the frequency of the injury was the problem.

So if I often get a bad back because I work as a labourer all week I knew the risks of doing it so ultimately it's my fault and I should pay for my treatment?

And, if I have an eating disorder and don't eat properly, I knew the risks of not eating it so ultimately it's my fault and I should pay for my treatment?

And of course, if I go camping/hiking every week and often end up injuring myself, I knew the risks of doing it so ultimately it's my fault and I should pay for my treatment?

Also, what about those who drink responsibly but develop health problems relating to alcohol consumption anyway? Should they have known better than to have sipped the Devils brew that is alcohol?

No, the best policy for this would be to fine those who are disorderly in A&E, perhaps have points like with driving offences, and after so many points you have to attend a mandatory alcohol awareness class, and of course increase awareness of the dangers of drinking, especially with young adults.

[AiliailiA]

Charge drunks who keep turning up at A&E, says Farage (who admits he tries to have a pint every lunchtime)

- Ukip leader says it is a 'reasonable position' to charge repeat offenders
- Reveals he is finding the gruelling election campaign 'knackering'
- Lib Dems and Tories have signalled they back the idea of fines for drunks

Drunks who repeatedly turn up at A&E should be fined to pay for treating for their injuries, Nigel Farage has claimed.

The Ukip leader, who admits to having a pint most lunchtimes, said that it was a ‘reasonable proposition’ to charge people who end up in hospital more than once after drinking.

He also revealed he is finding the election campaign ‘knackering’, as polls suggest support for Ukip is on the slide.

There were nearly 60,000 assaults on NHS staff in 2011-12 and alcohol-related hospital admissions have now topped a million a year – a rise of 510,000 in a decade.

Politicians from across the political spectrum have backed the idea of fining or charging people who visit A&E after drinking too much, but doctors leaders warn the plan is unworkable.

It would also cast doubt on the principle that the NHS is free at the point of use.

Mr Farage said he would support the idea of charging for treating drunks, but only persistent troublemakers.

He told the Sunday People: ‘It wouldn't be for first-time offenders," he told the Sunday People in an exclusive interview. "We were all young once. But for a second offence it's a reasonable proposition."

But he rejected the idea of issuing fines for people who miss GP appointments. ‘That would not be practical. Chasing up fines would cost too much money. The NHS has huge problems but I'm totally for an NHS free at the point of delivery.’

Lib Dem health minister Norman Lamb last year suggested a £50 levy on drunks. He warned that people who ‘gratuitously’ consume too much alcohol, especially at the weekends, were putting a ‘huge’ burden on hospitals.

Tory Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt signalled that he was open to the idea of fining those who cost taxpayers through their own ‘irresponsibility’.

‘I have a great deal of sympathy for the people who say we should charge people who use A&E because they go over the top on a Friday or a Saturday night,’ he said.

‘I don’t see why we, as taxpayers, should be funding that.’

Gordon Miles, chief executive of the College of Emergency Medicine, said in September that the proposal would be ‘very tricky’.

He added: ‘For example they had a couple of glasses of wine, fell and really hurt themselves? The priority is treating them. ‘It’s all very well saying these people are a huge burden on hospitals which they are, and A&E staff do face challenging situations.

'But there are many other ways we need to tackle alcohol abuse before it gets to hospital.’

In a separate interview with the Sunday Telegraph, Mr Farage admitted that he tries to drink every day.

Asked if he has a pint of bitter every lunchtime, he replied: "Generally - I try to. I like Adnam's. Young's. Master Brew."

He also admitted he was feeling the strain of the election campaign. 'Of course it's a bit knackering, I am not superhuman,' he said.
Ukip has struggled in recent days with misfiring campaign launches, angry protests and falling poll ratings.

The latest ComRes survey for the Mail put the party on 12 per cent, level with the Lib Dems for the first time in two years.

It marks a sharp fall from the 19 per cent recorded in October, when Mr Farage boasted he was making inroads across the country.

UKIP are sneaky thinking they can slowly creep in with healthcare charges in the UK through this route. Start with the drunks and then creep your way along to the smokers, the overweight, those hurt through sporting injuries. Fuck them and fuck the Lib Dems for indicating they'd tag along with UKIP and the conservatives. The NHS is meant to be free at the point of care for all

Thoughts?

In the very first sentence the writer of your source departs from journalism into commentary.

You absolutely must link to such sources instead of simply quoting them. Even if they are the Daily Fail ... as your source is.


EDIT: spoiler'd quote in OP to make my post take less screen space.

[Vassenor]

I guess Nigel has private healthcare.

He does. He credits it with his surviving the tumour that the NHS allegedly deliberately failed to tell him about.

[MERIZoC]

Shame we can't charge him.

[The Enrichment Center]

I guess Nigel has private healthcare.

He does. He credits it with his surviving the tumour that the NHS allegedly deliberately failed to tell him about.

See, say what you like about Cameron but when his son was very ill, he went NHS all the way. I respect him for that.

[Frazers]

I doubt that many of them have the money to pay up. They're self destructive arseholes that need more than a fine to get them back on track. They need compulsory rehab so they can see past the haze and give themselves a chance to sort their shit out.

[Greater-London]

Oh I see, sorry. I didn't realise the frequency of the injury was the problem.

So if I often get a bad back because I work as a labourer all week I knew the risks of doing it so ultimately it's my fault and I should pay for my treatment?

And, if I have an eating disorder and don't eat properly, I knew the risks of not eating it so ultimately it's my fault and I should pay for my treatment?

And of course, if I go camping/hiking every week and often end up injuring myself, I knew the risks of doing it so ultimately it's my fault and I should pay for my treatment?

Also, what about those who drink responsibly but develop health problems relating to alcohol consumption anyway? Should they have known better than to have sipped the Devils brew that is alcohol?

Those are all really bad examples. The first one is work related injury - nobody would think about charging for that. The second is a mental disorder - ditto. The third is you fault but I would say that if you go hiking and keep on injuring yourself your doing something stupid. The final one is a completely different issue, someone who drinks responsibly but then develops a liver or kidney problem wouldn't be affected by this charge. Its for drunk people who routinely mess up A & E. Slipper slope arguments suck.