Andrew - what you are suggesting is a classic case of treating the symptoms and not the cause... unless the reasons for all these issues are addressed things will never change. I moved out of London back in '97, but I do remember the Conservative Health Secretary, Virginia Bottomley, putting forward proposals to close a number of large London Teaching Hospitals.... I honestly don't believe that the Tory party has moved on from looking after the rich and penalising the poor - it's just not what they're about. Regarding your comments about how to administer a charging system - our children have been treated as emergency patients in the US - and I can tell you that the staff processing the bill for the treatment appeared to outnumber the staff who treated with us and certainly spent more time with us that the medics did! Unless all the drunks that are picked up give accurate, traceable details, the fines will never be recovered and the cost of trying to recoup the fine will soar and soar.....