The war hero who faces selling his home for the drugs to sav

[Bad_Omen]

Read this and can't really belive it's true. Please tell me things ain't really this bad back in Blighty.

The war hero who faces selling his home for the drugs to save his sight

A war veteran has been forced to spend more than £4,000 of his life savings in a desperate battle against blindness because the NHS will not pay for his treatment.

Jack Strange, 85, who earned the British Empire Medal in the Second World War and was a policeman for 30 years, says health bosses are refusing to fund simple, effective drugs which can keep his eye condition at bay.

When his savings run out he will be faced with the choice of selling the home he shares with his 80-year-old wife Joyce or going blind.


Poke Here For The Full Story

I shouldn't read The Mail, It just upsets me.

 

[supermatelot]

British legion and a whole other host of societies are there for that very need.

 

[Voyager]

St Dunstan's

At St Dunstan’s, we provide crucial assistance to ex-Service men and women with very significant loss of sight. Our specialist training and support helps them regain their independence and optimism and make the most of the opportunities available to them. We're partners for life, helping not just St Dunstaners, but also their families, who often need support or advice in their own right. Teaching new skills, sorting out housing issues, helping with benefit claims, and providing a thriving sporting and social network are just a few of our many roles.


Becoming a St Dunstaner

St Dunstan’s wants to help as many blind ex-Service men and women as possible to lead independent lives. In 2000 we changed our constitution to include not just those who had lost their vision through warfare, but anyone who has ever served in the Armed Forces and has suffered serious loss of sight since. Read our admission criteria set out below. Then, if you think you or someone you know is eligible to become a St Dunstaner, follow the link below to our admissions leaflet and contact information.

Admission criteria
There are two conditions that must be fulfilled for someone to be eligible:

1. Service in the Armed Forces
All applicants must have served at any time in the:

* UK Regular Armed Forces, or
* UK Reserve Armed Forces, including National Service. Reservists must have completed one year’s satisfactory service (ie – qualified for Bounty), or a lesser period if blinded on duty, or
* During WW2 in the Merchant Navy or Polish Forces under British command

2. Ophthalmic criteria
St. Dunstan’s has its own criteria. As a guide this means presenting at best a current visual acuity in both eyes of roughly halfway between being able to count fingers at arm’s length and read the largest line on an eye chart.

We also support the Emergency Services
In recent years, one of the aims of St Dunstan’s has been to extend its work to reach other areas of the blind community. The Diana Gubbay Trust was created for the benefit of men and women in the Emergency Services (Police, Fire and Ambulance) who suffer severe loss of vision whilst on duty. The ophthalmic criteria are the same as those for St Dunstan’s.

Process and timescale
After filling out our application form, the respective Service records office and your ophthalmic consultant will be contacted for reports. This process will take an average of 10 weeks, following which you will be invited to visit our office in London. This will normally include a discussion with our ophthalmic consultant.

St Dunstan's National Centre at Ovingdean

 

[Fifth_Columnist]

Yes, the British Legion and a whole host of other societies ARE there. But that is not the point, the NHS is there to provide this treatment and this gentleman has been paying it for most of his life. I would rather my hefty tax burden was funding treatment like this than being frittered away on sex-change operations and breast enlargements for the great unwashed because of their 'psychological impact'. The NHS is there to treat the sick, not fund self-indulgent idiots who are unable to 'get over it'.

 

[Bad_Omen]

Thats also what the NHS' there for isn't it? The guy's served his country both at war and in the Plod. I don't think it unreasonable that he gets something back. People like him should be at the front of the que, not the health tourists and illegal immigrants.

It's good that there are organisations that CAN help, but there are tax funded Dept's that SHOULD help.

 

[Grad]

Disgraceful but these days unsurprising treatment grrrrr

 

[heythrop]

Deleted by self as just a personal experience which does not help the subject matter of this thread

 

[bombdr2494]

This man should be given whatever he needs. He served his country, any care/medication needed should be given asap.

 

[lsquared]

Dear God - please save us from a revolution that will come if this government is not replaced as soon as possible.

Maybe a golden opportunity for the young people who have 'sold their stories' to shell out on this 'old soldier' whose story would probably not be sexy enough for our country's reptiles.

Anybody know how it could be suggested to them ?

My bet is it would claw back lots of respect.

 

[The_Cad]

I look forward to the day when those responsible for this shameless treatment of a brave man are held to account. It is all being noted down for the post revolutionary show trials.

Maybe Faye Turney could do a sponsored diet to get her BMI down to normal.. A Pound for a pound and she'd make a f*cking mint!

 

[lsquared]

Bad Omen - You enquire 'things are as bad as this in Blighty' - believe me the answer is yes and even worse. It has taken Bliar and his fiends, led by the undescribably awful Brown, ten years to reduce Great Britain to the status of a 'third world country' that just happens to speak English - no disrespect meant here to emerging third world countries.

If you have the chance stay away!

It will take a generation or more to restore the damage done by the grinning spiv and his so-called modernisation, not to mention the financial damage done by the psychotic, 'Stalinist', glowering, thieving Prime Minister in Waiting (No Election necessary).

 

[The_IRON]

Absolutely distgusting the way these war veterans are treated on the NHS, my dad went through a similar thing after losing his leg and foot (on other leg) Luckily RASC association and British Legion came into help out, if we lef it to NHS he'd be still waiting.

 

[FaceLikeAPingPongBall]

Yes, the British Legion and a whole host of other societies ARE there. But that is not the point, the NHS is there to provide this treatment and this gentleman has been paying it for most of his life. I would rather my hefty tax burden was funding treatment like this than being frittered away on sex-change operations and breast enlargements for the great unwashed because of their 'psychological impact'. The NHS is there to treat the sick, not fund self-indulgent idiots who are unable to 'get over it'.

Seconded! Self indulgent idiots who can't get over it to the back of the queue and there you stay (jurno scum, please feel free to quote me in your rag!) !!!

 

[Jailorinummqasr]

Not wishing to be disrespectful of the gentleman in question but here two observations for arrsers to mull over:

1. We get pissed when red tops say " (ex)-squaddie raped my hamster":" so to me you can't have it both ways. So the story is just about an 80 yo pensioner in need of drugs to save eye sight. I.e. whether he was a squaddie & copper for 30 years or that he worked in factory for 30 years make no difference.

2. THe NHS is not perfect, but it is pretty good. I am not sure what NICE says about his treatment, It is worth remembering that had this gent had been unable to look after himself, i.e. required nursing care full time he would in all probability had to sell his place before he could get treatment from the state.

Sorry, it is a bit of a non-story much like FT life.

 

[The_Cad]

It is far from a non story, it is in fact one of many which illustrates the way in which our elderly (And not so elderly) veterans are being neglected.

As for NICE... don't even go there.. They are a bunch of Cnuts.

I seem to remember New Labour harping on about the disgraceful treatment of Nuclear test veterans when they were in opposition, have they done anything since being in power? Nope... hypocrites as well as moral cowards.

They are finished, they are dead men walking... a bit like the Iranian government really.

 

[Voyager]

Yes but they use cutouts called PCTs and then core-dump Framework documents onto them and slice chunks of budgets so Whitehall controls by proxy and sets its own Pc priorities - want Herceptrin ? Bye-bye prostate treatment.

A drugs company hires a PR firm to push the interview tapes onto BBC "News" and before long there are demands for Magic Bunion Treatment at $30.000 a throw but the PCT is told to cut its budget as it is directed to meet demand for Magic Bunion Treatment.

I bet if you split down NHS spending by Gender, Ethnicity and Postcode you would have a few surprises.....like 75% NHS spending being on women so cutbacks fall elsewhere

Your point is valid though - he should be treated on the NHS....but noone created the NHS to do abortions, gender-reassignment, IVF, sustain babies born within the abortion time limit, or to spend £500 million treating drug addicts, nor several billions treating asylum seekers and health-tourists

 

[The_IRON]

Yes but they use cutouts called PCTs and then core-dump Framework documents onto them and slice chunks of budgets so Whitehall controls by proxy and sets its own Pc priorities - want Herceptrin ? Bye-bye prostate treatment.

A drugs company hires a PR firm to push the interview tapes onto BBC "News" and before long there are demands for Magic Bunion Treatment at $30.000 a throw but the PCT is told to cut its budget as it is directed to meet demand for Magic Bunion Treatment.

I bet if you split down NHS spending by Gender, Ethnicity and Postcode you would have a few surprises.....like 75% NHS spending being on women so cutbacks fall elsewhere

Your point is valid though - he should be treated on the NHS....but noone created the NHS to do abortions, gender-reassignment, IVF, sustain babies born within the abortion time limit, or to spend £500 million treating drug addicts, nor several billions treating asylum seekers and health-tourists

Does that mean I cant have my man breasts reduced on the NHS

 

[chieftiff]

Not wishing to be disrespectful of the gentleman in question but.........

2. THe NHS is not perfect, but it is pretty good. I am not sure what NICE says about his treatment, It is worth remembering that had this gent had been unable to look after himself, i.e. required nursing care full time he would in all probability had to sell his place before he could get treatment from the state.

Sorry, it is a bit of a non-story much like FT life.

Oh that's OK, silly me getting all upset because an old chap who has not only paid into the countries coffers for his entire life but served his country in the process can't get the medicine he requires to prevent blindness on the NHS................. because he lives in the wrong place! Of course it's a bloody issue, the whole system is a farce of bureaucratic nonsense and politics. The NHS was set up to provide a national, effective and FREE healthcare system, not a provision for the maladjusted and work shy ( I realise this is a generalisation but I am on a roll!) There was a post similar to this on RR about an ex Major who couldn't get the Althzeimer drugs he needs at a measely £2.50 a day because NICE insist he should only get it when he is moderately effected.........fecking "moderately" effected by a life changing and delapitating disease! To dismiss it as a non story is shocking and shows just how desensitised some people have become to these truly sad stories! http://www.rumration.co.uk/cpgn2/Forums/viewtopic/t=5658.html

 

[SkiCarver]

Dear God - please save us from a revolution that will come if this government is not replaced as soon as possible.

Maybe a golden opportunity for the young people who have 'sold their stories' to shell out on this 'old soldier' whose story would probably not be sexy enough for our country's reptiles.

Anybody know how it could be suggested to them ?

My bet is it would claw back lots of respect.

Top idea! Best i've heard in a while.

Ski.

 

[The_IRON]

Dear God - please save us from a revolution that will come if this government is not replaced as soon as possible.

Maybe a golden opportunity for the young people who have 'sold their stories' to shell out on this 'old soldier' whose story would probably not be sexy enough for our country's reptiles.

Anybody know how it could be suggested to them ?

My bet is it would claw back lots of respect.

Top idea! Best i've heard in a while.

Ski.

If the two of them go back on board the ship they might need NHS assistance.