Wednesday 18 March 2015

There Might Be No Such Thing As A Free Lunch…

...but a free diet? That’s on the cards!
Overweight doctors and nurses are to be offered free Slimming World classes as part of a drive by the NHS to “practise what we preach”.
Offer away! What are you going to do if they don’t take up the offer, though?
Simon Stevens, the NHS chief executive, was expected to outline the plans to encourage staff to lose weight in a speech on Monday, The Daily Telegraph reported. He was due to say that “intensive lifestyle change interventions” had been showed to have a dramatic effect on weight-related health issues.
“For over a decade we’ve known that obesity prevention cuts diabetes and saves lives,” he will say.
“If these results were from a pill we’d doubtless be popping it, but instead this programme succeeds by supporting people to lose weight, exercise and eat better.”
Assuming they want and desire that support. What if they don’t? When does the offer become the one you can’t refuse?
Mr Stevens will add that “practising what we preach” would help tackle the current obesity crisis, which has seen the UK become the second fattest country in Europe.
I’ve got a better idea. How about the NHS stops worrying about stuff like this? For its staff, and for the public?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dock their pay if they're obese: it affects their productivity! Ever watched a waddleround, oops wardround? Looks like a pod of whales.

Macheath said...

I wonder whether it would be such a problem if nurses still wore the old-fashioned belted cotton dresses - a tight belt would surely go a long way towards reminding its wearer not to tuck into abundant snacks while on duty.

A quick google reveals that nurses' uniforms are now available up to a size 28 - that's a 46" waist.

JuliaM said...

"I wonder whether it would be such a problem if nurses still wore the old-fashioned belted cotton dresses..."

Hard to tell nurses apart from doctors in the new, improved NHS...