Clarkson rushed to hospital after NHS critique, argues reforms

Jeremy Clarkson said he was rushed to John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford earlier this month for urgent treatment just hours after publishing a newspaper column in which he criticised the National Health Service. The 65 year old broadcaster and writer said he required immediate care after developing what he described as a very hot neck and that his private healthcare options were not available close by, so the NHS was his only option.

In his column, Clarkson said he needed "urgent hospital treatment" and described the episode as "Defcon 1 painful," adding that staff had to "chisel me off the ceiling with a spatula afterwards." He declined to disclose the specific ailment, writing that it was "none of your business." He also said he was forced to stay overnight but that his experience in the hospital was positive. "I genuinely couldn't find anything to moan about at all," he wrote, praising doctors, nurses and the cleanliness of the facility.

The hospital visit came after a column in which Clarkson argued the health service was a "creaking monster" and past its sell by date, and criticised officials for allowing international doctors who, he said, had been struck off in their home...