[bouillabaisse]

(Original post by boba)
noone should ever be the main assessor when it comes to themselves noone can be completely objective and unbias when it comes to themselves.
It might be an economic question not a moral one but the economics of it it why people need to be assessed to see if they really will benefit enough to justify the cost in the first place the economics of it all is very important. In a hypothetical scenario where the NHS had unlimited resources then yes people should be able to get whatever treatment they want but it doesn't so it has to be decided how to ration it.

Healthcare policy should be decided on the basis of empathy - how would I feel if I was in their position, and the choice of an individual over their treatment or lack of it.

Objectivity and unbiasness is rarely fair or helpful.

Would you honestly rather I judge whether you needed treatment or not than yourself. Given that Idon't care about you, have no emotional involvement with you, and am therefore pretty unbias.

[BarryAskwith]

And he gets no choice as you never let him go anywhere without you. How insecure can you be!

Anything else would have to be an improvement. He's just biding his time then one day he will be gone. Just wait & see.

Oh, I see the score is 2-2 now btw.

[tinktinktinkerbell]

(Original post by BarryAskwith)
And he gets no choice as you never let him go anywhere without you. How insecure can you be!

Anything else would have to be an improvement. He's just biding his time then one day he will be gone. Just wait & see.

Oh, I see the score is 2-2 now btw.

not insecure at all and he can go anywhere he wants if he chooses to

sorry to say (well im not) but you're wrong

[Hippysnake]

(Original post by bouillabaisse)
I'm highly aware what private treatment costs including the 'overall package' price breakdown etc etc. It costs a lot. It's likely that if something has affected someones quality of life substantially, they are unlikely to be able to work hard enough to have the money to get it fixed.

On a broader scale I would argue that there is no reason other than government incompetence and poor prioritization that taxpayers money 'cannot fund' a fully functioning mental and physical state healthcare system.

Let us not turn this into a political debate.

If someone has a defect that SUBSTANTIALLY effects their quality of life, then I agree, the service should be provided by the NHS.

But I think some, including you may not be able to fully appreciate the term SUBSTANTIAL. A female with small breasts complains and wants them bigger, is that a SUBSTANTIAL problem? Something that's going to stop her from finding a partner? Something that children will laugh and point at from the opposite side of the road?

What about a person with a nose a little bigger than usual? Is that SUBSTANTIAL? At what point does that person decide- "If I don't have this surgically fixed, life isn't worth living?" If that ever were to be the case, then cosmetic surgery is unlikely to have an effect, and they'll be back asking for many more revisions. It would be much more effective referring to them to a Psychologist to address the underlying issue.

I've worked on Plastics Wards in hospitals before, and I can appreciate whatSUBSTANTIAL means. It does not mean getting any cosmetic procedure on the NHS just because you don't feel good about yourself.

[boba]

(Original post by bouillabaisse)
Healthcare policy should be decided on the basis of empathy - how would I feel if I was in their position, and the choice of an individual over their treatment or lack of it.

Objectivity and unbiasness is rarely fair or helpful.

Would you honestly rather I judge whether you needed treatment or not than yourself. Given that Idon't care about you, have no emotional involvement with you, and am therefore pretty unbias.

well not you no you don't seem like you would make sensible decisions over such things. but since thats how the system works and I'm happy with the system yes I would rather someone else decided other wise I know I would just take advantage and take more than I should be entitled to. health care policy should be decided in a way that works and in a way that can help everyone rather than make a few peoples lives perfect. The fact that you want to ignore the factor of money doesn't mean that it isn't important.

[emilymay]

(Original post by ta duck)
Spoken like someone who's never had the piss taken out of them for how they look day in day out

Oh believe me I had far more than my share of petty comments and sneers from girls at high school, the thing is I just dealt with it, learnt to make the most of it, and moved on. I didn't go and have a major operation and take on all those risks associated with it, to change things.

[ta duck]

(Original post by emilymay)
Oh believe me I had far more than my share of petty comments and sneers from girls at high school, the thing is I just dealt with it, learnt to make the most of it, and moved on. I didn't go and have a major operation and take on all those risks associated with it, to change things.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with you judging by your profile pic so I imagine that was pretty easy. Personally I would rather have a 90 minute op over 'dealing with it' for years. Jesus, you get judged for looking 'wrong', and you get judged for putting it right!

[tinktinktinkerbell]

(Original post by ta duck)
There's absolutely nothing wrong with you judging by your profile pic so I imagine that was pretty easy. Personally I would rather have a 90 minute op over 'dealing with it' for years. Jesus, you get judged for looking 'wrong', and you get judged for putting it right!

maybe you need to grow a thick skin and stop giving a toss what others think

[JSam1994]

(Original post by hayzelle)
Someone I know has just had cosmetic surgery on the NHS. It's not normally allowed except to correct health issues, but she claimed it was making her depressed about herself and they allowed her to have it (she had a chin reduction).

On one hand, it was clearly something she was insecure about and she's definitely more confident now after she's undergone the surgery.

However it is using money from taxpayers, which could be spent on treatment for a patient with a life-threatening illness.

And more philosophically, is this sending the wrong message? She's adopted the attitude that she's 'beaten everyone who ever called her ugly' because she's pretty now, but this could easily be seen as her giving in to the media's idea of beauty, i.e. sending the message 'your life sucked because you were ugly, but now you fit the media's standards of beauty more, your life will get better'.

What do you think? And if you had something about your physical features seen as extremely unattractive in today's society, would you consider plastic surgery? If it was avaliable on the NHS would you take it or would you go private?

TL;DR: What are your views on purely cosmetic surgery given to people on the NHS?

I'm unsure how i feel, because i've experienced the same thing first hand. People have always made me feel absolutely horrible about myself because of the size of my chin. It has caused me so much depression, i hate meeting new people or being around people in general because i feel like they can see it and they're going to think the same as everyone who's bullied me for it. I'm going to discuss my options with my dentist in a couple of weeks, because my jaw alignment and overbite is affected by it. Personally, if i couldn't get it on the NHS, i would have no problem paying for it privately, although finding over £3000 at my age is very difficult! Sounds clichéd but it whole heartedly would change my life so much..

EDIT: wow! didn't realise this had been posted so long ago haha