The REAL state of the NHS

We are so lucky in this country to have the NHS. At the moment the media is full of horror stories about the failings of the NHS and no one, it seems, is recognising what a valuable service we have. I’m sure there are bits of it that could be improved, there’s room for improvement in every thing, but on the whole, I think it’s a great service and I’d like to see more people appreciate what we have.  The media and the government have a vested interest in presenting the NHS as flawed; they need justification for the proposed ‘reforms’ that would change forever the service most of us depend on. These greedy people at the top are manipulating the population into believing the only thing that can save the NHS is the introduction of profiteering and privatisation.  For every horror story thrust down our throats by the ever obliging media, there are hundreds and hundreds of ordinary people going about their daily lives who, with out this service would be dead. When all we see in the media is the constant drip, drip, drip of criticism, it’s easy to forget the true value of what we have. These stories are picked up on by the media, devoured by the public who love the opportunity to have a good moan about any thing, and then used as evidence for the ‘reforms’.

 I worked in the NHS for many years and I know how complaints can stem not from a poor service, but from a patient or relatives anxiety about what is happening to them. If you are terribly worried about something, a wait of a few weeks for an appointment to see a specialist seems like an eternity, in reality, even with private health insurance you would face a wait to see a specialist. When I worked on the wards, complaints from relatives about their elderly mother/ mother-inlaw/ sister or other relative were not uncommon. But the underlying cause was very often guilt that they had not been able to care for the relative themselves, anxiety about the diagnosis and treatment or sheer denial about the patients prognosis. I remember clearly one family who made an official complaint about the ward, citing neglect and ill treatment, because their 96 year old mother had died. The lady was admitted for terminal care, but the family were unable to accept that and needed someone to blame. The ‘good’ stories tend not to have the sensationalism of the government sponsored horror stories, the positive stories are told in quiet appreciation by ordinary people about experiences that changed their lives. The NHS is not a second class service used by poor people who can't afford to 'go private'. It is a service used, owned and paid for by all of us. Its not free, we pay for it, it doesn't belong to the government, it belongs to us, and its not the terrible service the government and media would have us believe. Many people in this country don't even think about 'private insurance', why should we when we have a perfectly good service that we pay for collectively, directly from out income.
Consider this scenario. A family are driving along the back roads from one town to another. Its not in the middle of no where but it is a rural location. The breaks fail, the car goes off the road, into a ditch, turns over and crashes into a tree. Luckily a farm worker sees what has happened and dials the emergency services. The police attend, make the area safe and divert the traffic, the ambulance service attend and paramedics assess the situation and give immediate first aid. The fire brigade attend because the driver needs to be cut out of the car. The paramedics in the ambulance transport the less injured mother and children to a local hospital. The driver is assessed as being more seriously injured and in need of emergency, specialist treatment. The paramedics arrange for an air ambulance to attend and lift the driver to a major hospital where a specialist surgical team are waiting to carry out life saving surgery. The car is a total write off and the insurance goes no where near compensating for the financial loss. Every member of the family survive and their bill is A BIG FAT ZERO. You think this is far fetched, it isn't, it happens more often than you would think.  I would like to say to my fellow Brits...........wake up,
stop moaning and appreciate what you have before you lose it.

I would like to see more reporting of the ‘good’ NHS stories; here are a couple of simple stories of simple sucsess.

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/120874/Obama-s-stepmother-The-NHS-saved-my-life

Apparently the NHS saved the life of Obamas stepmother. She is quoted as saying; ‘“It’s very simple: I owe my life to the NHS. If it wasn’t for the NHS I wouldn’t have been alive to see our family’s greatest moment, when Barack became President.”

http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/s/2095620_praise_for_gps_who_understand_teenagers

Praise for GPs who understand teenagers
The University Medical Practice has received an award for its accessibility to young people.