Scum fund
I am grateful to a commentator for raising an interesting question. Consider this:
At the beginning of January, phone lines went down in a small village and hundreds of residents were cut off. What happened in Great Gidding, Cambridgeshire, was just the latest in a string of incidents which are causing huge problems across the county. From telephone lines to high voltage cables and electricity sub-stations, thieves are stealing copper. As global demand outstrips supply, thieves are prepared to risk their lives and endanger the lives of others. Philip Galloway, 23, received a 33,000 volt shock when he tried to steal the wiring from a live electricity sub-station. Mr Galloway, who was cautioned by police in November 2007 after the incident, told Inside Out that he had been unable to sign up with social security to get Jobseekers' Allowance, so thought he could earn some money by stealing. (sic - I despair of the BBC)
"I got in there to try and get some copper and my hands touched one of the boxes", he said. "I thought it was dead, but it blew me clean back and I was laying on floor with my eyes at the back of my head."
He was able to call for help, but emergency services were unable to enter the substation until it was made safe. So Mr Galloway laid on the ground, alone, for 45 minutes as he waited for paramedics to reach him. He said: "I didn't want to look at my arm, it was a big blistered balloon and it went right up my chest. My belt still was glowing red and my belt went straight through me."
After weeks in hospital he has returned home, but is in constant pain. He has had skin grafts and requires further operations on his arm. (BBC)
Why should Philip Galloway not be presented with the total bill for his medical care?
26 Comments:
"Why should Philip Galloway not be presented with the total bill for his medical care?"
Indeed, on principal, why not? If law abiding tax payers can be refused treatment because they have allegedly "brought it on themselves" by smoking or by being overweight, why does the same system not punish the criminal, or foolishly reckless - what is the annual cost of patching up drunken brawlers every Friday and Saturday night?
Unfortunately,after practical analysis, it would probably cost a packet to administer and in most cases, including that of Philip Galloway, the state would never get our money back.
It is amazing the unbelievable behaviour of some people; for instance the stealing of manhole covers during the night from roads and pavements to sell for the metal. This often leaves very large, deep and dangerous holes for the unwary car driver, and much worse, for pedestrians and cyclists who risk serious injury.
This kind of callous disregard for others never fails to amaze and disgust me.
Sad NHS supporter
Nope. Can't see any reason why he should not get a bill. The USA seem to manage it...
Sadly in my opinion he has received entirely the wrong medical treatment. Why was every effort made to save the arm when in reality its prompt removal would have not only saved further costly medical treatment but could also be seen as crime prevention measure - unless he is left handed of course.
It's a shame the thieving bastard hadn't been killed by the 33,000 volt shock. Unfortunately it's not just electricity companies who these metal "entrepreneurs" are targeting. Roofs of churches and ancient buildings are prey to opportunist thieves, even motorway signs have been stolen for scrap metal value.
If Galloway had been presented with any kind of bill, would he have paid it? Not likely!
Another dose of 33, 000 volts would seem to be in order.
I hope N power or who ever supplies the voltage, bill him for the charge. Or should that be charge him with the bill?
The world is full of people like him. In a slightly different category, I read in this morning's paper of the 'Woman killed on level crossing' I thought at first that her boot had caught in the rails and then the barrier had come down - at least that was the impression the writer seemed to be giving. On reading the complete story, it seemed that the truth was actualy very different. She had walked around the end of the closed barrier, then got stuck in the cattle grid style wooden bars that are meant to dissuade people from doing just that; a valiant onlooker had managed to pull her free and then she had continued to cross the tracks even though the train could only have been feet away by that time - talk about a candidate for a Darwin Award!
"Mr Galloway, ...., told Inside Out that he had been unable to sign up with social security to get Jobseekers' Allowance"
Unfortunately a claimant has to phone a contact centre and attend an interview at the Jobcentre where he agrees a Jobseeker's Contract to look for work and be available for work before JSA is awarded. That is so much more difficult than theft.
This link explains matters:
http://www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk/JCP/Customers/WorkingAgeBenefits/Jobseekerallowance/index.html
If the claimant is not available for work then income support can be claimed:
http://www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk/JCP/Customers/WorkingAgeBenefits/Dev_015271.xml.html
And if the claimant is ill or disabled then incapacity benefit can be claimed:
http://www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk/JCP/Customers/WorkingAgeBenefits/Dev_007969.xml.html
So what really prevented Mr Galloway?
If he were imprisoned for his crime, under your system, would he pay for healthcare while confined?
I'm surprised that we don't yet have vigilantes who deal with people like Galloway. And with the boys who run Terminal 5, come to that.
Why not? Because where do you stop? And who is the arbiter?
[cynic]If he was passed the bill, he'd probably sue the electric board for the cost of it for not making the sub-station "safe" for visitors.
In fact, I'm surprised he hasn't done so already![/cynic]
Y'know, my grandfather was a doctor before the days of the NHS. The doctors were *desperate* for a free at point of service healthcare system ... because people died. Lots of people died. Painfully. They wanted people to have the medical treatment they needed when they needed it without having to pay for it.
My grandfather used to get paid in chickens on occasion.
You, Dr C, would take us back to the bad old days when people died in filth because they couldn't afford to pay to be treated.
Oh. Wait a minute ... that's already happening, isn't it.
Fx
(who is really quite irritated by this continuing demand for payment for health care.)
If you gave this chap a bill, he would probably try to raise the funds by doing another substation for the copper...
Nearly one for a Darwin award.
http://www.darwinawards.com/
"It's a shame the thieving bastard hadn't been killed by the 33,000 volt shock." I'm quite shocked by this appalling statement. What this man was doing was disgraceful but so is wishing that he had been killed. Wise up! Is this some sort of tabloid?? What if the man couldn't pay for the treatment? Would we deny it to him? Do all people now have to be morally approved before we recognise their right to medical treatment? Should anyone who has ever committed a crime or been involved in a fight or consumed illegal drugs be forced to pay up for any treatment? Where would we draw the line? Would anyone who has ever committed a minor offence have to pay? As for the issue of whether people who take risks with their health should be made to pay; what about those who smoke, or have unhealthy diets or don't exercise? What about people who race cars, should they pay for treatment of injuries sustained in their sports? Shall we declare that only perfect people who never take any risks with their health should get free treatment? These distinctions would be impossible in practice. The man should be brought to court and jailed and heavily fined for his crimes, however there is no need to relate this directly to the medical treatment. The issue of how we should pay for healthcare should be an entirely separate issue.
"It's a shame the thieving bastard hadn't been killed by the 33,000 volt shock." Maybe a bit harsh, yet the guy got off very lightly with a police caution. The fact that he incurred self-inflicted injuries should not have prevented him appearing before the courts and receiving an appropriate sentence to deter others from committing this sort of crime.
In a modern "developed" society like ours, healthcare has become a human right. In the past, when we were basically struggling to survive on this planet, food, water, freedom etc, were the only human rights, but now that our society has developed to the point where it can relatively easily care for its members, timely access to safe good quality healthcare shoud be available to all. Before paying for stupid public monuments, before paying for media campaigns, before all the things the government regularly pours money into that we can live without.
Even though this guy was an asshole, and created a lot of work and expense for an overstretched health service, where would one draw the line? You cannot say that only perfect, law abiding citizens can access healthcare.
He should have had more punishment than he got, but that is for the justice system to decide.
Wouldn't this type of injury provide great hands on practice for a registrar (under the watchful eye of the consultant of course).
His punishment is up to the police and the CPS. It's not for the medical community to decide.
I've been reading this column for quite some time and I don't remember the same outrage when a doctor drove a burning 4X4 into the Glasgow terminal. Should he have received medical care for his considerable injuries? His crime was much more serious.
It's a sticky situation, but the idea that human rights apply to everyone, no matter how far they choose to move away from human, is not a clear one.
The idea of human rights it's lovely and sparkly and glass half full. But convincing taxpayers who stay out of trouble (in the criminal sense) all their lives but seem to be constantly paying for criminals to get medical treatment, like in this case. Or seem to be funding people who never get a job. Whilst at the same time having to pay massive amounts of money for some medical treatments (e.g. false teeth, etc.) for themselves... well. It's not one that you can get regular working joes to swallow easily.
So good luck with that.
"Should anyone who has ever committed a crime or been involved in a fight or consumed illegal drugs be forced to pay up for any treatment?"
That's actually quite a good idea!
"...what about those who smoke, or have unhealthy diets or don't exercise?"
I think the NHS is getting round to it.
"What about people who race cars, should they pay for treatment of injuries sustained in their sports?"
Do you seriously think racing drivers don't go private..?
Why was he unable to sign up with social security to get Jobseekers' Allowance?
Because he was committing another crime at the time? Ignore the damaged arm, which he didn't have then, and he looks quite capable of working for a living. Too much like hard work?
The scrap value of electrical and telephone cable has always been a magnet for people like Mr Galloway. In 1968 the scrap value of an old trunk telephone cable of about 13 miles far exceeded the cost of replacing it with a new cable using more modern materials and the then latest multiplexing technology.
I wouldn’t pay much attention to Mr Galloway’s account of what happened. This is my take. He was probably trading up. The UK grid doesn’t normally use 33KV this site was probably some heavy industry substation. Handy, if there is no one around, Christmas perhaps? Then Galloway can disconnect the supply and strip everything downwind relatively untroubled. He has probably had some success with a pair of stolen insulted shears (it is practice for some companies to work live) on domestic and 11kv sites but hadn’t tried anything bigger. He clearly didn’t take a direct hit. That would have killed him, as I recall 30 mAmps will kill you, and 30mAmps at 33KV…….I suspect he took a partial hit when he to cut the 33kv feed with his inadequately insulated shears.
Juliam-<<"Should anyone who has ever committed a crime or been involved in a fight or consumed illegal drugs be forced to pay up for any treatment?"
That's actually quite a good idea!
"...what about those who smoke, or have unhealthy diets or don't exercise?"
I think the NHS is getting round to it.
"What about people who race cars, should they pay for treatment of injuries sustained in their sports?"
Do you seriously think racing drivers don't go private..?>>"
You're missing the point! It's irrelevant if some racing drivers go private. There are plenty of people who engage in risky sports (including racing) who do not have private insurance. The point is that we don't refuse to treat them or insist that they pay for treatment - even though they knowingly take risks with their health. The majority of the population do this to some extent.
The NHS are not currently undertaking a full moral investigation of patients before treating them- most right thinking people would recognise that this would be a ridiculous and completely unworkable proposal. Most people are not perfect, people do committ crimes and take risks. It is for the courts to deal with criminality. We are a developed society, people should not have to be morally judged before we decide if we should treat them; this would be completely inhumane and barbarous.
You might be happy to deny medical care to everyone but the 'perfect'. However, if you ever made a mistake in your life, or if your family/friends did and were then denied treatment- maybe you'd change your tune. The NHS was established to provide healthcare for all. All people should be granted access to medical care - because we are all human. We do need to think more about how the NHS is funded. However we need to think about it sensibly and practically, rather than jumping on the bandwagon, dumbing down complex issues and coming up with ridiculous, unethical and unworkable ideas.
In the olden days natural selection would have weeded out pillocks like this before they became old enough to go and attempt to steal the copper from a set of live wires. Prat. We can only assume that A&E will be seeing this chap again when he does something else mindlessly dim.
Oldgit said: "He has probably had some success with a pair of stolen insulted shears".....I had to laugh at this! Reminds me of one of the press cuttings in the late Fritz Spiegl's book "The Black and White Misprint Show", a newspaper article referring to "British Insulted Callendar's Cables" lol.
希望大家都會非常非常幸福~
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