Stephen Tall

Lamb: charge “rat-arsed drunks” for A&E treatment

By | Mon 10th September 2007 - 1:50 am

Let’s not accuse Norman Lamb, the Lib Dem Shadow Secretary of State for Health, of gently slipping out his latest policy proposal – that patients needing emergency NHS treatment after becoming drunk or incapacitated by drugs would be charged:

“If you get rat-arsed on a Friday night and get taken to A&E where you are foul and abusive to staff, is it right for the taxpayers to fund your life-saving treatment?”

The Guardian reports that, “The proposals are understood to have strong support from Sir Menzies Campbell, the Lib Dem leader.”

Perhaps the more significant aspects of the proposals, though, are contained here:

The paper also included a plan to give people money to buy their own healthcare. Expectant mothers could get direct payments worth hundreds of pounds to buy the services of an independent midwife. People with poor mental health or long-term medical conditions could also be provided with cash for counselling or therapy. … Other proposals included direct election of local health boards and greater integration between health and social services.

There’s further coverage in The Times, and at ePolitix.co.uk.

Read more by or more about .
This entry was posted in News.
Advert

Post a Comment

Lib Dem Voice welcomes comments from everyone but we ask you to be polite, to be on topic and to be who you say you are. You can read our comments policy in full here. Please respect it and all readers of the site.

To have your photo next to your comment please signup your email address with Gravatar.

Your email is never published. Required fields are marked *

*
*
Please complete the name of this site, Liberal Democrat ...?

Advert

Recent Comments

  • John B Grout
    Excellent piece, Josh. As for seeking others' thoughts on the pitch, here are mine: Labour and the Greens want to do things for you, the Conservatives and R...
  • David Evans
    It's an interesting article, which gives us more to think about, but when it ends with "Government and politics can strive toward this platform ... giving ind...
  • Neil Sandison
    This one of a series of articles recently published in the Liberal Democrat Voice that defines our social liberal values . Frequently the hot house of Westminst...
  • Pawel Urbanski
    This is the right problem to be working on, and I think the answer may be less about the words than about the moments. In my experience people learn what we sta...
  • Simon Robinson
    It's good to have an MP putting herself forward for this. The manifesto seems a bit vague though. All good thoughts and nothing you can really disagree with, b...