Health Incentives Scheme
Debate between Maggie Throup and Lia Nici(2 years, 6 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Lia Nici (Great Grimsby) (Con)
Does my hon. Friend agree that this a fantastic new initiative and pilot, and that it is perhaps the forerunner to making everybody aware that the best way to protect the national health service is for us to have the healthiest lives possible and to make the healthiest choices possible, so that we have a national health service that is protected and that does not continue to be a national repair service?
Maggie Throup
My hon. Friend is exactly right. Obesity costs the NHS at least £6 billion. However, it is not just about the cost to the NHS, but the cost to individuals as well. People who are obese are more likely to have diabetes, cardiac disease and cancers, so this affects their lives. If we get it right for the NHS, we are getting it right for individuals as well.