Banning Surgery for Smokers and the Obese?

This week in Hot Chocolate and Current Events: 

The U.K.’s National Health Service is planning to ban survey for patients who smoke or are obese. Make some hot chocolate, kick back with your homeschool family, and read this article from the Guardian. Use the questions to help get the conversation started. To get the latest in Hot Chocolate and Current Events, sign up for our newsletter. 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/10/17/nhs-provokes-fury-indefinite-surgery-ban-smokers-obese/

Map Point: 

• U.K. (The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Great Britain includes England, Scotland, and Wales)

Key Terms: 

• NHS: National Health Service. The U.K.’s publicly funded health service. It was founded in 1948 and its services are available to all U.K. residents. Learn more about it here. 

https://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/thenhs/about/Pages/overview.aspx

• Royal College of Surgeons: a British professional organization of surgeons. They would be like a special interest group in the U.S., reacting to and developing policy guidance for the NHS. 

Questions:

• Why would the head of the Royal College of Surgeons call the surgery ban “discriminatory”? Do you think it is?
• Follow the link above to read a little more about the NHS. Why would the Royal College of Surgeons say that surgery ban violates the NHS’s fundamental principles? 
• What do you think of the NHS’s current policy which delays surgery to give patients time to lose weight or stop smoking?
• Besides smokers and obese people, should any other groups of people be banned from having surgery? 
• Why do you think the NHS is in financial trouble? 
• What can the U.K. do to alleviate the pressure that it is under? (See the chart that discusses the aging population, budget cuts, staff shortages, and lifestyle factors). 
• If the NHS was not in financial trouble, would they be considering this ban? Why or why not? 
• Do you think that the NHS patients should take responsibility for their own health, or must the NHS treat all patients equally? 
• Should governments encourage people to eat better and quit smoking, or should people be free to make their own choices?  

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