TV phone vote to decide if patients live or die

Life support machine A new reality game show is being launched by ITV in conjunction with the National Health Service to allow the general public to decide which critically-ill patients should receive expensive life-saving treatment.

In the show, called ‘To Die or Not To Die’ which launches next Saturday night, patients will have to convince a panel of celebrity judges why they should get the medication or care that might cure their fatal conditions, while viewers at home call a premium rate phone-line to vote for the patient they would save.

‘This is must-see television’ said producer Charlie Pryor. ‘And while each show will end with one more patient regretfully being told they have not made it through to the next round, we will at least have done a great deal to raise awareness of each illness involved. The TV schedules are packed with shows giving people the chance to do something with their lives; this programme actually gives them a life to do something with.’

Billed as a cross between ‘The X Factor’, ‘Dragon’s Den’ and ‘City Hospital’ the television iniative follows recent criticism of the Government’s approach to drug selection for patients with life-threatening or debilitating illnesses. Now one tearful speech from a frail pensioner or a stammering plea from a man with a rare tropical disease could make the difference between life or death for the patient involved. ‘Plus it’s great entertainment…’ said Charlie Pryor. ‘You should have seen the patients faces in the pilot! With the heartbeat soundtrack thudding in the background and Simon Cowell saying ‘You are NOT… Going to be disappointed! IF you understand that other people need these resources more than you…BUT they don’t, because you’re going to live! …Out your last days WITHOUT any expensive treatment.’

Already auditions have been held around the country with desperate families wheeling their loved ones out of intensive-care wards and queuing up for the chance to take part. ‘It’s not just about getting Grandma out of her coma,’ said one family. But also it would be amazing if we could actually get on the telly!’