Increasing numbers of patients are taking the NHS to court for not funding their medicines. Photograph: Corbis
Many things vex me about my chosen vocation, writes medical student Alex Thomas. The unending exams, having to walk through bloodstains and armed policemen on my way into lectures in the morning, and the constant doom-mongering in the press are just a few. But what irks me most is the flood of litigious patients taking the NHS to court for refusing to pay for their medication.
There is usually a sob story attached, often 'life-saving treatment' or drugs essential for quality of life. May drugs cost upwards of £10,000. The NHS is not a bottomless pit of money and these patients seem to think it is. A line has to be drawn somewhere and it is indeed unfortunate if you are to be found on the other side of that line. But in the words of my consultant, "tough shit".
The problem is that there are far too many people queuing up for extremely expensive treatment. There simply is no money to pay for them all, regardless of whether these drugs will save lives. If there's no money, then there's no money, end of story. The treatment might be the most important thing in the world to the patient, but that particular patient is not by any means the most important thing to me, the NHS or the country.
Of course, economics are not the only factor in healthcare - which is why we have legions of caring professionals all fighting the patient's corner. But they cost money too.
One of the most overworked phrases I hear is: "Well, I've paid in to the NHS so now I want to see my share back." But most people have not paid in anywhere near the amount of what their treatment will cost. Years of free healthcare from the NHS has spoilt the Great British public, and they have no idea of the true cost of the care and treatment they receive.
(This is the reason there is so much public hand wringing over doctors' wages. These figures are not make-believe, people, this is what this stuff actually costs. If you don't like it, feel free to go see a crystal gazer or a witch doctor or whoever else you like, I won't mind, fewer patients means I get to go home early.)
Taking the NHS to court over the cost of pharmaceuticals is unforgivable. If the individual cannot afford the five-figure sum for treatment, then why do they think the NHS can when it has 50 million other people to look after?
It is all symptomatic of the emergence of the "I'm worth it culture". Instant gratification and total cures are what patients expect, but this does not go hand in hand with sustainable affordable care for all. Until somebody in authority is honest enough to stand up and say that the NHS cannot afford all treatments for every person, then expectations will continue to spiral out of control while some patients go without.
With the increases in the cost of new treatments plus the continuing cost of litigation, it seems that it may be this grasping and insatiable attitude for more drugs and more treatment, regardless of anybody else's needs that will sound the death knell for 'free healthcare at the point of access' - more than anything else the government does.
