Let's All Focus

You will pleased to note that the NHS decided to concentrate its efforts.

"Other key themes to emerge (sic) from the consultation process were: " ...investing in services for people whose health and well-being may be at greater risk, for example: minority ethnic groups, teenagers, and people on low income."

Well let me see. The population of England and Wales in 2001 was recorded as 49,138,831 people.

• Sixteen percent of these are aged 65+ and we can hardly leave them out. That's 7,862,213 pensioners.
• Add to that the thirteen percent of the population who are teenagers and that's another 6,642,321.
• That leaves 34,634,405 of whom eight per cent come from ethnic minorities - 2,770,752.

I could go on but simply add on pregnant women and those in post-natal care, the long-term chronic sick, victims of accidents and crimes and somehow the focus starts to become a tad blurred.

Dont forget that since 43% of UK NHS spending goes to the elderly, that leaves just 57% of funding for the rest of us 84% of the population.

It's the sort of gibberish that is pleasing to the ear and meaningless to the wallet. Do we really live in a society where teenagers are counted as " ... people whose health and well-being may be at greater risk"? If so, we are all deeply in the proverbial.