So Roger Daltrey reckons old people have caused the NHS crisis?

This is the article concerned and I pretty much agree with it.

www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/roger-daltrey-age-nhs-teenage-cancer-trust-b2477841.html#comments-area

Yes I am very wary of bestowing morality on a person because of money raised for charity.

Well said Dickens

And a good post Urmstongran - sums it up perfectly! 🙂

Excellent post Dickens.

Bridie22

In the real world all services should be equal regardless of age, sadly that's not the world we now live in.
Roger has given young people a fighting chance with the charity money he has raised...would these youngsters have survived without it in the real world?

My dear friend was a nurse working with children with cancer and leukaemia for years. Yes, every penny raised by various charities goes to help find treatments and alleviate suffering but the people working so hard day in day out are the ones trying their utmost to give children a fighting chance.

Heading up a concert every year is laudable but it's not anything like working on the wards, supporting families.

Well done for your fundraising efforts, Roger, but don't make it an intergenerational fight, setting young against old.
It really should not be so.

We did an exercise once (many years ago) at work during a discussion group. We were given a set of variables - supposed patients waiting for specialised expensive (and there for limited access) treatment. We were given their supposed ages, co-morbidities and told of their likely prognoses. We were split up into groups to discuss. Some robust views were put forward. Other folk leaned towards one age demographic or another. After about half an hour the groups reassembled with their findings.

And then we were told how the NHS would prioritise treatment.

“It would be given to whoever was most sick”. End of.
I like to think that’s still the case.

“Let’s just die!” he said. “Get me and my lot out the way. It’s crazy.

... you first, Mr Daltrey.

Yes, we will all die. But no-one should "just die" because they are old.

It should not be beyond the realms of possibility that a civilised society organises itself so that there is an equitable system of welfare and care for its subjects.

Pitting one generation against the other, or one group of people against the other, is not the answer... though it's a very useful tool for any government to use, which they do. Frequently. It saves the bother of doing what they were elected to do.

You cannot expect a person to pay into a designated national health system for 40 / 50 years and then tell them - when they need its services - that they can't avail themselves of it. Either we have a national health system or we have an every-man-for-himself society. What we have now is a national health service that is opposed by the free-marketeers in government who have neglected to do the necessary planning and funding, and now want to blame those who use the service when they need it, for their failure to manage the system. Daltrey is one of those who votes for such a government.

No life should be prolonged if it's not in the best interests of the sufferer, and everyone should have the right to choose to die. But no life should be snuffed out simply because it's inconvenient.

And I take no lessons from those like Daltrey, or any other high-profile celebrities, who think their platforms give them some special dispensation to dictate to others - even if I agree with their sentiments - because they do not live the lives of ordinary people for one thing, and, for another, why are their views any more potent than anyone else's?

If Daltrey is "ready to go" - I suspect it would be a comfortable and dignified end... he wouldn't be one of those elderly people being 'cared' for in the community, lying in bed, incontinent, waiting for over-worked and under-paid carers to give him 15 minutes out of their over-stretched schedules.

Other European countries appear to manage these systems better than we do.

Well he has a Get Out of Jail Free card doesn’t he? It’s called money and probably a physician on speed dial.

with an underfunded NHS what he says is probably true, but that doesn't justify treating old people any differently to young people.. all NHS treatments should be evenly distributed.. that is why it was set up in the first place..

Casdon

When you read what he actually said, it’s hard to disagree with him.
www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/roger-daltrey-age-nhs-teenage-cancer-trust-b2477841.html
He was criticising the lack of resources being put into care of teenage cancer patients, and saying they should be prioritised over older people.

But not himself of course

In the real world all services should be equal regardless of age, sadly that's not the world we now live in.
Roger has given young people a fighting chance with the charity money he has raised...would these youngsters have survived without it in the real world?

Casdon

When you read what he actually said, it’s hard to disagree with him.
www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/roger-daltrey-age-nhs-teenage-cancer-trust-b2477841.html
He was criticising the lack of resources being put into care of teenage cancer patients, and saying they should be prioritised over older people.

No, they should both be adequately funded, that does not mean prioritised.

When you read what he actually said, it’s hard to disagree with him.
www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/roger-daltrey-age-nhs-teenage-cancer-trust-b2477841.html
He was criticising the lack of resources being put into care of teenage cancer patients, and saying they should be prioritised over older people.

Roger has 8 children and 15 grandchildren. I wonder if they all rely on the NHS!

Old people are young people who have continued living until they are old, a fact that seems to elude many people in their youth

Yes, it seems to astonish some young people that very old people were once young like them 😁

No, it just stirs up more intergenerational strife.

Roger Daltrey, who sang “Hope I die before I get old", is perhaps upset that his wish has not come true - he'll be 80 this year.

He himself is 79.

He should know better.
But presumably he doesnt live in the real world either. Sigh.

We have an ageing population and can’t pretend otherwise. Older people fall, break bones, develop dementia - all manner of things which require the attention of the NHS.

Roger Daltrey was talking about wasting money on drugs for older people ten years ago. I remember being surprised and irritated by his comments then. Here's one article
www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/the-who-s-roger-daltrey-warns-we-can-t-live-forever-hope-i-die-before-i-get-too-old-9094151.html

Georgesgran

I suspect his comments were made very tongue in cheek.
He has raised over £32million for the Teenage Cancer Trust.

So therefore his empathy lies with the young. Not us older citizens. Tongue in cheek, I don't think so.

Most people, old and young working and retired, generally use the NHS very little when they are young and healthy and pay in far more to the NHS than they get out.

Old people are young people who have continued living until they are old, a fact that seems to elude many people in their youth, So most of us, having paid in to the NHS for 30,40,50 years without using the NHS very much, think it quite reasonable that when we get old and nead medical care, we should be able to get all the care we need, which we have already paid for up front.

I suspect his comments were made very tongue in cheek.
He has raised over £32million for the Teenage Cancer Trust.

I think your comment Mae is slightly out of context, he also critizes the fact that 50% of nhs funding pays for executive wages, and that the system is broken.
Roger has been the teenager charity figurehead for many years after his sister died at 32.

He’s an old fart himself isn’t he ? I blame the young ‘uns, expect everything on a plate…

I quite agree mae13. 8 pharmacies are closing every week and people are struggling to get the medications they need. I bet people who can afford as much private health care as they wish don't have to go without and that's old and young. It angers me that oldies get blamed for everything. It's not us oldies that have caused all the problems we have.