Eat your greens? Keep fit? Then go straight to the front of the hospital queue
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Patients who exercise regularly and avoid fatty foods should go to the front of the queue for NHS operations, a think tank urges today.
People should be able to use supermarket bills and gym membership forms to prove they lead healthy lives and access priority non-emergency treatment, according to the centre-Left think-tank Demos. It also suggests that welfare claimants who exercise regularly should be given larger payments in recognition that they are behaving responsibly.
The think tank acknowledged its proposals were controversial, but insisted it wanted to reward people who took positive steps to lower their risk of needing medical care rather than to penalise those who were lazy or followed poor diets.
Demos is urging ministers to follow the lead of insurance companies which already offer incentives to customers to lead healthier lifestyles by offering them discounts on gym memberships. "There is scope for the NHS to provide its non-emergency services in a way that takes account of responsible behaviour," it argues in a new report.
But Katherine Murphy, the chief executive of the Patients Association, said: "Proactive investment in prevention, public campaigns and health literacy can deliver change more con-structively than punitive sanctions."
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments