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

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.


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

 

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

 

St Dunstan's

 

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'.

 

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.

 

Disgraceful but these days unsurprising treatment grrrrr

 

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

 

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

 

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.

 

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!

 

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).

 

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.

 

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!) !!!

 

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.

 

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.