I NEVER thought I would be tempted to hold up the French as a model of good behaviour that might be followed by the UK. But their decision to offer their citizens free replacement of all PIP breast implants, whether these have already failed or not, is one that clearly puts public health well ahead of financial and budgetary considerations.

There have been a lot of knee-jerk unhelpful rumblings suggesting that women who have had implants for reasons of personal vanity in private clinics should not receive assistance from the NHS. This argument is not only grossly simplistic, but also inconsistent.

We offer medical care on the NHS to habitual smokers, drinkers and drug users despite the perceived ‘self inflicted’ origin of their diseases; and so we should. Even in that small percentage of cases when the breast enhancements have been undertaken for purely cosmetic or misguided vanity reasons, the recipients of non-medical standard implants have been the victims of a deception as indeed have the clinics that performed the operations in the belief that the implants were appropriate.

Certainly morally, and hopefully by law, the private clinics that make very good money performing these operations, will accept the responsibility of any supplier of faulty goods, albeit in good faith, and do what they can to remedy the situation. The broadcast media have been full however of stories from recipients of PIP implants of an initial reluctance on the part of some clinics and surgeons to offer much assistance. Once again, it is the fear of possible expensive litigation that stops people behaving decently. We have a culture today of never admitting responsibility for anything until the lawyers or insurance companies have crawled all over the minutiae to look for a way out.

Why can’t the clinics say that they’ll replace the implants and sort out the liability later? We all know the reason. Money. And the fact that the manufacturers who supplied deficient implants have gone into liquidation doesn’t help of course.

But there can be no doubt that those whose implants have already ruptured should receive immediate remedial treatment. And if the original clinic will not do it, then the NHS should step in, do it and then bill them. The medical community has the opportunity here to demonstrate the falseness of the popular belief that it closes ranks to defend its own, whatever the circumstances.