Overview

• Clarkson said he required urgent care shortly after his Sunday Times column, describing the procedure as "Defcon 1 painful."
• He declined to disclose the ailment and joked that medics had to "chisel me off the ceiling with a spatula" afterward.
• Having ditched private insurance and finding the nearest private hospital two hours away, he wrote that the NHS was his only option.
• He reported an overnight stay with "spotless" facilities and kind staff, saying he "couldn't find anything to moan about."
• In the same column he argued the NHS is unaffordable, called it a "creaking old monster," warned taxes may rise, and alleged some overseas medics were banned from practicing in their home countries.