With over £20 billion of savings to be made by 2014 it is clear that costs have to be reduced, but why is it that NHS Direct is faced with calls for it to be struck off?

Unsurprisingly Nick Chapman, NHS Direct’s Chief Executive, was immediately jumping to his organisation’s defence. His argument on the face of it seems cast iron. He quoted that more than half of all calls or visits to the website led to people treating themselves at home, 1.7 million GP consultations had been avoided, and that in 2008 the service saved the NHS £162m by reducing demand on face-to-face services.

The statistics are impressive, so why is the service having its metaphorical head placed in the budget cut guillotine?

Some may point to the fact that Pulse this week revealed figures obtained through the Freedom of Information Act that currently 40% of NHS Direct’s current call-handlers have no nurse training.  Claims have been made that this is threatening patient safety.

Others may say the £123,000,000 a year bill to fund NHS direct is just simply too big a price to pay when 25% of callers end up contacting their GP anyway.

The service might not be liked by doctors but patients appear to disagree – particularly regarding the services website. Over 5 million people log on to the site – and it is increasingly becoming a portal to obtain patient feedback, give healthy lifestyle advice and encourage healthy living. In the age of digital media, Is that something we can really afford to lose?

Perhaps it would simply be more efficient to make a noose out of the £12.7 billion price tag around the neck of the NHS’s delayed IT programme!

Obesity has been blamed for adding pressure on the NHS, causing planes to use too much fuel and for the destruction of environment, and now it’s the turn of overweight celebrities to be in the firing line.

Where it was once the media’s portrayal of skinny stars that was blamed for negative body images, healthcare professionals are now claiming that the problem swings both ways. Professor Michael McMahon of Nuffield Health recently fed the obesity debate by saying the increasing amount of larger stars on TV and film are causing obese people to become apathetic about their weight.

It wasn’t long ago that more rotund celebrities were seen as pioneers who made a refreshing change to the near skeletal models, actors and actresses who tried their best to fill our screens. There was the belief that over-weight stars such as James Corden and Eamonn Holmes gave hope to many; they showed that you don’t have to be a size zero to make it big.

So are we just looking for another excuse as to why the UK is now seen as being the second most over-weight country in the world?

A survey released last week revealed many obese people fail to recognise they have a problem at all. Researchers found some obese people refused to take any action to improve their situation, with almost one in five not contemplating doing anything to lose weight.

Professor McMahon believes the increased acceptance of obesity is alarming. In fact, if nothing changes, we could see one in six people eligible for weight-loss surgery within a generation.

While it would be unfair to think large celebrities have been in any sense entirely responsible for the obesity issue, it is clear that we all need to look at ourselves to discover what we can do to improve the health of the nation. The answer may not be hidden in Gavin & Stacey, but can it be revealed by the fact that we are all sitting on out ever expanding bottoms watching them?