Should the NHS really be footing the bill every time you need medical treatment?

Join for our live and interactive show with special guests, Dr Robert Gerber and Dr John Giles as we debate the serious topic of the future of the NHS and whether certain circumstances should see individuals start paying for their own medical treatment

Show date: Friday 4 December 2014

Show time: 14.30

It seems like every other day we are reading about how the National Health Service is struggling to meet the demands of an aging and increasingly diverse population. If there was a way ease the burden, who among us should start footing the bill?

And while we’re constantly urged to do more exercise to improve our health, recent research conducted shows that some Brits believe that those who get injured whilst keeping fit should pay for their own medical treatment.

Although they may take up running to lose weight and improve their health, does that mean that people who jog on pavements or roads should be refused free treatment on the NHS if they develop problems related to their running? What about people injured while doing an ‘extreme sport’ such as snowboarding, surfing or mountain biking, should they be made to go private?

On behalf of Benenden, joining us for this special live and interactive show is Dr Robert Gerbert and Dr John Giles as we delve deeper into which NHS treatments should be offered and to whom.

We will also cover whether the NHS should still be funding ongoing treatments for conditions brought on by recreational drug or excessive over eating, to who should fund cosmetic surgery for “vanity” procedures. Alternatively what about people that can afford their own treatment, should they be forced to seek private healthcare? Are fears of over staffing numbers and pressures at NHS hospitals having an effect on public confidence and would the public start to feel safer under private health care?