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Dr Phillip Lee says people with conditions affected by lifestyle should pay for care

By Hugh Fort
November 27, 2012

People who have diseases and conditions caused by their lifestyle should be made to pay for their medical care, Bracknell's MP has stated.

Dr Phillip Lee told a briefing of the Institute of Economic affairs people with type 2 diabetes and other similar illnesses should lose their right to free NHS prescriptions.

He said: "If you want to have doughnuts for breakfast, fine, but there is a cost implication down the line.”

Dr Le also warned reforms were needed to stop pressure on the NHS from baby boomers and younger patients.

He said people today are less willing than older people to put up with minor ailments.

He added: "Their [older people] perception of pain is profoundly different to their stoic parents who survived the war."

He also claimed the Government could save £400 million by allowing GPs to dispense drugs rather than high street chemists.

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Today saw the roll out of personal health budgets.

By April 2014 up to 56,000 people on the NHS Continuing Healthcare scheme will have the right to ask for a personal health budget.

http://www.dh.gov.uk/health/2012/11/phb/

So do they get an itemised account annually?

‘Independent analysis has now shown that personal health budgets can put people back in control of their care and make a significant difference to their quality of life.’

Olds Oak, Finchampstead
30/11/2012 at 16:14

All said and read I think I'll stay with the majority and give a big thumbs down to the Tory Dr Lee. Sorry Olds Oaks but you make a good defender. Now where did I put that doughnut?

Jeppo
28/11/2012 at 16:49

Why is he also out to get school governors? First he went to the Treasury, didn't get the answer he wanted and then goes to the Education Secretary....

http://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2012-11-27a.129762.h&s=speaker%3A24765#g129762.q0

Meanwhile back in Bracknell where his constituents wonder what happened to their regeneration, local health provision, closure of maternity wards.....

Winstanley, Bracknell
28/11/2012 at 15:53

The statement made by Dr Lee does not stand up . See below.

"Dr Phillip Lee told a briefing of the Institute of Economic affairs people with type 2 diabetes and other similar illnesses should lose their right to free NHS prescriptions. "

From the NHS website -

Risk factors for type 2 diabetes

"You are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes if you:

are over 40 years old have a relative with the condition are of South Asian, African-Caribbean or Middle Eastern origin are overweight or obese."

graywok, Woosehill
28/11/2012 at 15:37

Does Dr Lee realise that lung cancer can be caused by asbestosis and take extra tests to diagnose with much angst to the patient

Weight issues can be hereditory as well as diabetes

Is someone who went outside as a nipper in the sun and now has skin cancer a victim of their own choice when it wasn't mentioned in the 70s?

Back door privatisation by the Tories!

CMK
28/11/2012 at 15:02

@Winstanley - right on!

alex_f, Wokingham
28/11/2012 at 14:25

Yehs the big lump of unwanted CONservative lard is all mouth. Dr Who? His own private hospital in MArlow, close Heatherwood, and sod the lot of us. You know whick way to vote next time!!!!! The only time i seen him in bracknell was him moolighting behind the bar at the oak.

Gingertop, Bracknell
28/11/2012 at 14:18

Politics of envy? Turn it in!

Sure, earn what you can - if you put the effort in. But that's not what the criticism of Lee is about. If he was an outstanding MP, committed himself fully to his constituents, and didn't espouse a 'Do as I say, not as I do' attitude, I'd be all for him.

Actions speak louder than words.

Winstanley, Bracknell
28/11/2012 at 14:09

@Sandyandy - not at all. As Winstanley says, referring to other MPs who earn more means nothing to the current argument or annoyance felt on this article.

alex_f, Wokingham
28/11/2012 at 14:06

Appears to me to be the politics of envy. Why should people not be able to earn a lot, if they do a lot?

And as for waht Dr Lee is saying, it was all said in the Wanless report in 2004. http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_4074426

Sandyandy, Warfield
28/11/2012 at 14:01

Old Oaks - I could care less about Miliband or Afriyie. They're not my MP and making the kind of self-aggrandising statements that Lee does on a regular basis.

Political mush? The relevance of Lee's (yours?) income is obvious to anyone who detests being lectured by someone claiming to be parliamentary representative, but who does the exact opposite to that which he advocates for the hoi polloi.

Lee trousers two public sector wages and a private income. Fact. He does very nicely out of the system he claims cannot continue to be financed under current models. Fact. Hypocrisy and pocket lining at it's most naked.

Afriyie may well be a millionaire - but so are many other Tory MP's including most of the cabinet. Let's see what they help themselves to. Why does Phillip Lee need a flat in London when he lives less than an hour away?

The political mush comes from shoddy attempts at side-stepping the issue at hand, and treating constituents as mugs.

Winstanley, Bracknell
28/11/2012 at 13:33

@Olds Oak - it's one thing being a millionaire, and another taking the p*. It's not like he needs to run an American style multi-million pound election bid, so keep things in perspective.

The issue is effectively that Philip Lee is preaching over how the NHS should save money, by generally what will hit some the poorest in society, whilst he has both hands dipped deep in the public purse himself, through numerous avenues.

alex_f, Wokingham
28/11/2012 at 13:25

@Time4tea (I hope you are having doughnuts or choccie biccies with your tea!) - £100/hour (or more) is not unusual for GPs for out of hours work - a huge problem with the new contract negotiated back in 2006. GPs had the ability to contract out of out of hours work for £6k and then instead can get paid £100/hour for effectively the same work.

Salaried GPs do indeed earn on average around £60k - however the majority are contracted, who average well over £100k (http://www.ic.nhs.uk/webfiles/publications/007_Primary_Care/General_Practice/gpearnandexp1011/GP_Earnings_and_Expenses_2010_11.pdf).

On top of this, he is involved in various other advisory memberships and chairs, from his linkedin page.

alex_f, Wokingham
28/11/2012 at 13:14

R Smith I fear that you are being a little disingenuous. Car driving is for most a fact of life, not a lifestyle.

Being overweight in most cases is a lifestyle choice. Ignore your doctor at your own peril. How would most sports injuries be a problem? That would seem to be an accident while keeping healthy. On the other hand most people take out insurance when going skiing – just in case.

Olds Oak, Finchampstead
28/11/2012 at 13:06

The amounts Dr Plipp Lee earns are all in the public domain.

Per (weekly [ish]) session £402. Hours: 3.5-4 hrs. http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/phillip_lee/bracknell#register

Why that has any bearing on the matter I don't know.

People need to be given the facts straight - Not tied up in political mush.

on the other subject: Perhaps you could dig around and find out how much Adam Afriyie earns from his various companies? As a millionaire his expenses would be a drop in the ocean.

I don't think we want a situation where an MP has to be a millionaire before he can afford to serve?

And while you are at it see if you cam find out how much millionaire Miliband earns in his "spare" time?