Simon Would Be Dead If He Couldn't Get £100,000 For A Liver Operation

11 September 2017, 11:57 | Updated: 11 September 2017, 12:00

The NHS couldn't treat Simon's cancer quickly enough, so his brother-in-law gave him £100,000.

NHS waiting times have led to a 15 to 25 per cent rise in ‘self-payers’, as patients resort to using savings or loans to finance medical treatment, a report by Intuition Communications has found.

Simon called James O'Brien to detail his experience with one of the best liver surgeons in the country, who told him that without £100,000 it was likely he would die.

Fortunately Simon's brother-in-law was able to give him the six-figure sum.

James O'Brien said we hadn't noticed the increasing shortfall in NHS care
James O'Brien said we hadn't noticed the increasing shortfall in NHS care. Picture: LBC

James O'Brien said: "We'll all remember Simon's call. The idea that he would be dead if he couldn't lay his hands on £100,000 at very short notice.

"It's funny when I talk about my daughter's dentist. It's not life and death stuff.

"But say you need to see the orthodontist, the orthodontist emails you back 'we can se you next week if you're a private patient, if you're NHS it's 13 months.'

"But it's buck teeth or whatever it is.

"It's not the same as having one of the best consultants in the country standing at the end of your bed and saying:

'I could do it for you in two or three months, but there's no guarantee that you'll be here. there's a very strong chance you'll be dead. And by the way if I do it on the NHS I could be called away at any moment because I'm at the top of the list of consultants who do transplants and transplants obviously supersede everything else but, old boy...'

"And this is no criticism of the consultant, you work with what you've got.

'... but if you get your hands on £100,000 I'll do it for you on Tuesday, uninterrupted.'

"And I know that it is naive to believe that everybody can be treated equally. I think that that holds back liberal politics.

"It's all about the size of the gap, isn't it? Whether you're talking about wages and pay restraints or waiting lists and medical costs.

"If it's a couple of grand and saves you a couple of months, I can see the inevitability. It's a market force.

"But what's happened without us really clocking it is the gaps have got huge and the sums of money have grown exponentially.

"Now your life, it's got nothing to do with buck teeth, your life could depend on how quickly you could raise a six figure sum of money."

Watch the full moving clip above.

More James O'Brien

See more More James O'Brien

Sacked borders watchdog David Neal said the Home Office is 'dysfunctional' and needs reform.

'It goes to the very top': Sacked border watchdog slams Home Office and calls for reform after Cleverly row

Exclusive
Shahd Waleed is trying to leave Rafah with her parents and enter Egypt

'They want us to experience pain': Young woman trapped in Rafah with her parents tells of terror as Israel invasion looms

Sir Keir Starmer has defended comments he made about Margaret Thatcher earlier this month.

Starmer defends Thatcher comments as he says he ‘completely disagrees’ with former prime minister’s politics

A caller to James O’Brien’s programme has shared footage of the extraordinary destruction done to his newly purchased property just outside of Durham.

Property investor's shock at 'unexplainable level of damage' he discovered after buying new home

Exclusive
James Cleverly replaced Suella Braverman as home secretary on Monday

'I've spent more time with James Cleverly this week than with Suella Braverman in the last year', Sadiq Khan tells LBC

James O'Brien discusses Suella Braverman's 'destructionist' leadership style with a caller

'She's a destructionist': James O'Brien caller claims Suella Braverman governs like 'a five-year-old'

James O'Brien

'She definitely has something on him': Caller and James O'Brien debate why the PM hasn't sacked Suella Braverman yet

'A complete reset of the top' is needed says caller.

'We're being let down': There is a 'complete disconnection' between parliamentary and local Conservatives says caller

James O'Brien

'It's essential that people are able to protest peacefully against war', says James O'Brien

James O'Brien

Rishi Sunak 'almost physically moves away' from Suella Braverman in House of Commons debate, says James O'Brien

James O'Brien

'Suella Braverman succeeded - she's caused hate', claims caller after Home Secretary criticises pro-Palestine marches

'A fish rots from the head': James O'Brien caller reacts to claims of misogyny in Downing Street during Covid Inquiry

'A fish rots from the head': James O'Brien caller reacts to claims of misogyny in Downing Street during Covid Inquiry

'Ludicrous, bogus, nonsense': James O'Brien is astounded by Boris Johnson 'laughing at Italy' during the pandemic

'Ludicrous, bogus, nonsense': James O'Brien is astounded by Boris Johnson 'laughing at Italy' during the pandemic

James O'Brien on Dagestan

'It's a hatred as old as religion itself': James O'Brien analyses escalating anti-Semitism after Muslim crowd storms Dagestan airport

Carol Vorderman shocked about UK Poverty

'One million children are living in destitution': Carol Vorderman struggles to comprehend stark wealth inequality in the UK

Wes Streeting on dentistry

Wes Streeting invites the government to steal Labour's policy to solve 'dickensian' NHS dentist crisis

James O'Brien

'I think they're the loneliest voters in Britain', James O'Brien claims after Tories' double by-election defeat

JOB and caller Andy

Biden's visit to Israel is to show that the US stands 'unequivocally' with Israel says James O'Brien caller

JOB and Usman

Israel's current response will only 'strengthen' Hamas by rearing Gazans who seek revenge warns this James O'Brien caller

JOB on deaths in conflict

James O'Brien unpacks the 'controversial' feeling of being 'equally devastated' by Palestinian and Israeli deaths

JOB on starmer speech

Keir Starmer is using 'working class as the opposite of having a sense of entitlement', notes James O'Brien

JOB on HS2 promises

James O'Brien criticises Rishi Sunak's watering down of 'illustrative' Network North projects funded by HS2 cut

Sadiq Khan and James O'Brien

Sadiq Khan declares there is 'no place for anti-Semitism' in London as kosher restaurant in Golders Green attacked

James O'Brien on the challenge HS2 scrappage poses to Labour.

‘How much can Rishi Sunak knock down before Keir Starmer becomes Prime Minister?, asks James O’Brien

James O'Brien

Rishi Sunak is like an 'incontinent cat': James O'Brien slams Tories ahead of PM's Party Conference speech

JoB and Jeremy Hunt

Navy veteran deeply hurt by Jeremy Hunt's plans to clamp down on benefit claimants

James O'Brien on Tory tactics in the upcoming election.

Tories desperately seeking wedge issues is the 'only way' they will retain power in 2024, says James O'Brien

James and caller Mervin on knife crime

'I'd prefer you to go to jail than die': James O'Brien is left aghast by this caller's father's stance on knife possession

James O'Brien

James O'Brien ridicules those prioritising Labour's private school VAT plans over the cost of living crisis

James O'Brien

'I mean this is a novel': James O'Brien hears why this caller blames Labour for HS2 problems

James O'Brien

James O'Brien takes aim at uninformed 'idiots' criticising Keir Starmer for not wanting to diverge from EU rules

JOB on Rishi Sunak Bins

Rishi 'seven-bin' Sunak is lifting bans that 'don't exist', asserts James O'Brien