Jeremy Clarkson has praised the NHS following a hospital visit that occurred hours after calling the service a “creaking monster” that needed a “rethink”.
The former Top Gear host has not revealed details about his health scare, but he did say that he required urgent treatment, which his private health care could not provide for him.
Clarkson said that his private health service could only find him treatment two hours away in London, so he instead had to use an NHS facility in Oxford.
Speaking of his experience in his Sunday Times column, Clarkson said that he “genuinely couldn’t find anything to moan about at all”.
“The doctors, the nurses and everyone I met were kind. It was all spotless. Lunch was kids’ food-brilliant, and they even made me better – for which I shall be eternally grateful.”
The 65-year-old pointed out that, only hours before his health scare, he had lamented the NHS, suggesting that it was past its sell-by date.
“Nine hours after that piece appeared on the nation’s kitchen tables, I needed to go to the hospital in something of a hurry,” he wrote.
Addressing his ailment, the broadcaster said that he had a “very hot neck” and that the treatment he received was “Defcon 1 painful”.
“They had to chisel me off the ceiling with a spatula afterwards and I was forced to stay the night, but it was OK,” he added.
Clarkson’s previous column had seen him criticise the NHS for reportedly employing international doctors who had been banned from practising medicine in their own countries.
Earlier this month, The Times reported that 22 doctors have been subject to disciplinary action or restrictions overseas, but there is no record of that on their General Medical Council licences in the UK.
The findings of an investigation by The Times were “horrific” and “a serious failure in our medical regulatory systems that I will not tolerate”, health secretary Wes Streeting said.
Clarkson ended his latest column by declaring that, despite receiving good care, he still believed the NHS needed to be changed. “Yes, it’s an excellent organisation and the frontline staff are superb,” he wrote. “But in its current state, we as a nation cannot afford it.”
Last year, Clarkson underwent a heart procedure after experiencing sudden health “deterioration” that left him “maybe” days away from dying.
In September, the Clarkson’s Farm host also revealed he had been taking Mounjaro weight loss injections. “I should explain I’m on Mounjaro, my trousers are falling down,” he joked during a speech at the National Television Awards.
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