The original post was slightly misleading as exclusion was not suggested for all surgery, but rather elective surgery, e.g. cosmetic, knee replacements etc.
Even then it was primarily focused on operations whereby the weakened cardiac system of the smoker could place the patient at risk, or would have reduced benefit outcomes and higher public costs. Additionally, it was proposed that rather than immediate exclusion that smokers were given less priority in the waiting lists for such elective surgery. If said surgery posed significant risks, or potentially higher costs and sub-optimal benefits, the patient was to be given help to quit smoking; then contingent on whether they managed to quit and the risks involved be denied surgery, refer to link below for shortened summary:
To be honest this discrimination already exists to some extent against smokers in the medical community. You are already required to declare whether you are a smoker or not prior to any operations, while many private cosmetic surgeons will refuse to carry out invasive surgery on long-term smokers due to the potential for arterial weakness.
Given the public awareness of the health dangers of smoking many medical practitioners, due to limited resources in the sector, would rather prioritise patients who are not perceived to have self-inflicted conditions. There is little sympathy for the modern smoker and often their service in the health system reflects the lack of empathy for their plight.
However, as stated in the previous post there are many other self inflicted health risks that could also be treated in a similar fashion if this sets a precedent.
